Trump should realize Iranians become more united in face of US bullying: Larijani

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the United States needs to realize that bullying tactics will only lead the Iranian people to close their ranks and stand more united in the face of America’s hostilities.

Larijani made the remarks at a Tuesday ceremony marking the 31st anniversary of the downing of an Iranian passenger plane by a US Navy guided-missile cruiser in the Persian Gulf waters.

Larijani enumerated Washington’s “calculation mistakes” in dealing with Iran over the past years, including downing in 1988 the passenger plane with 290 people on board, designing a coup in 1953 against the democratically elected government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and supporting ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during his regime’s eight-year war on Iran.

“The problem with Americans is that they are not well familiar with the Middle East and the Iranian nation, and imagine if they send a handful of warships to the region, they can break the will of the nation, but Iranians showed that they have a united resolve,” he said.

Larijani also denounced the anti-Iran policies adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump, adding that experts with different viewpoints inside Iran have today come to the conclusion that America “harbors enmity” towards the Islamic Republic.

“This turned into a point of unity (among Iranians) and united everyone in the idea that we must stand our ground,” he added. “Trump should realize that when he speaks to a civilized nation with bullying language, that nation strengthens its unity.”

Recently, the US has taken a quasi-warlike posture against Iran and stepped up its provocative military moves in the Middle East.

In May, Washington dispatched an aircraft carrier strike group, a bomber task force, and an amphibious assault ship to the Persian Gulf, citing an alleged Iranian threat.