Iran calls US leaders cruel, disloyal, says armed forces ‘prepared’

LONDON: A senior Iranian military official branded US leaders disloyal and cruel on Wednesday and told parliament Tehran would not bow to Washington’s pressure to limit its military activities. “Iranian armed forces are now, thanks to God, more prepared than ever and will not wait for the permission or approval of any power to develop defence capabilities,” Major General Mohammad Bagheri was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

The statement came two days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would impose “the strongest sanctions in history” if Tehran did not curb its regional influence and limit its missile programme.

Bagheri, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Chief, called US leaders “disloyal, cruel, criminal, isolated, angry, corrupt, and on the Zionist regime’s payroll”, and said Washington did not have the courage for a military confrontation with Tehran, IRNA reported.

Speculation mounts over US push for Iran regime change: Speculation is swirling over the prospect of US willingness to push regime change in Tehran, as US officials including Washington’s top diplomat urge Iranians to “choose for themselves” their government.

“The Iranian people get to choose for themselves the kind of leadership they want,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday after outlining a day prior aggressive measures designed to counter Tehran, including what he dubbed the “strongest sanctions in history.“

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said US “policy is not regime change” — but made clear the United States would “welcome” a new era in Tehran.“If the Iranian people were to choose, somewhere down the road, to make their views known, they’re certainly welcome to do so,” she said.

“The Iranian people for far too long have lived under a regime that has mistreated its people.”US policy on Iran puts region in ‘further danger’: France: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday that the United States risks further destabilising the Middle East after Washington warned Iran faced the “strongest sanctions in history”. “The sanctions to be launched against Iran will not foster dialogue. On the contrary, they will boost the importance and power of Iran’s conservatives and weaken president (Hassan) Rouhani, who wanted to negotiate,” Le Drian told France Inter radio. “Ultimately, this stance is likely to put the region in further danger than it is today.”