‘There is not going to be any war' with US, says Iran's Khamenei

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said that “there is not going to be any war” with the United States. Tensions between the Islamic republic and the United States was a test of resolve rather than a military encounter, he said.  “This face-off is not military because there is not going to be any war. Neither we nor them (the US) seek war. They know it will not be in their interest,” he said, quoted on the Khamenei.ir website. Khamenei accused US President Donald Trump of being uninformed about the situation in Iran.

“The definite decision of the Iranian nation is to resist against America,” Khamenei said, adding that “in this showdown America will be forced to retreat... because our resolve is stronger.” The supreme leader said negotiating with the US was “poison” because the Americans wanted to take away Iran’s strong points such as its missiles or its “strategic depth” in the region.

“Negotiating with the present American government is doubly poisonous... they are not decent humans, they don’t stand by anything,” he said referring to the US decision to withdraw from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had warned Iran against any misadventure. "We’ll see what happens with Iran. If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake," Trump told reporters at his Oval Office of the White House. He was responding to questions on US military build-up against Iran and if he was at war with Tehran. 

“I’m hearing little stories about Iran. If they do anything, they will suffer greatly. We’ll see what happens with Iran,” Trump said, as his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stopped in Brussels to brief NATO allies on the latest developments with regard to Iran.

Tehran announced had that it would stop respecting some of the curbs on its nuclear activities imposed under the landmark 2015 deal with world powers.