Iran cleric urges ‘crushing’ response to US threats

A senior Iranian cleric has called on the Foreign Ministry to react decisively to US threats against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program.

“People expect the Iranian Foreign Ministry to give crushing response to rants, lies, accusations and brazenness of the United States,” Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahhedi Kermani said in a sermon to worshippers at the weekly Friday Prayers in Tehran.

He was reacting to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s renewed threat of military action and allegations made by US top nuclear negotiator with Iran, Wendy Sherman, against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Mr. Kerry and Ms. Sherman behaved very impolitely, they expressed ugly words and this ugliness is” in their nature, said the Iranian cleric.

Movahhedi Kermani added that the US officials continue to threaten Iran with the military option.

In a testimony to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 4, Sherman, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and the Obama administration’s top negotiator with Iran, questioned Iran’s need to maintain a number of its nuclear facilities.

On February 5, Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected Sherman’s comments as “worthless.”

In addition, some 200 Iranian legislators slammed Sherman’s remarks on Thursday, calling them offensive and reflective of the US hegemonic character.

Iran and the six major world powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany – signed a nuclear deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old standoff over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. The two sides started to implement the agreement on January 20 and aim to continue negotiations for a final comprehensive deal.