Zarif warns outgoing Trump against last-minute adventurism

“@realDonaldTrump uses a worthless photo to recklessly accuse Iran,” Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in a tweet after Trump claimed Iran was behind a rocket attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

“Last time, the US ruined our region over WMD fabrications, wasting $7 TRILLION & causing 58,976 American casualties,” Zarif said, pointing to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States.

“FAR WORSE this time,” he warned. “Trump will bear full responsibility for any adventurism on his way out.”

Late on Sunday, the Iraqi officials announced that at least three Katyusha rockets had landed within Baghdad’s Green Zone.

The rockets landed close to the U.S. diplomatic mission, causing sirens blaring within the compound without any casualties apart from some material damage.

The U.S. embassy has been targeted several times this year, amid soaring anti-American sentiments in the Arab country following the U.S. assassination of the deputy head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and Iran’s anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on January 3.

The United States has drawn down staff members at the embassy this month ahead of the first anniversary of the assassination. U.S. officials said the decision stemmed from concerns about a retaliatory strike.

Washington has blamed Iran for the Sunday attack.

In a tweet on Thursday, Trump said, “Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday by several rockets. Three rockets failed to launch. Guess where they were from: IRAN.”

He circulated rumors about additional attacks against Americans in Iraq, warning Iran that if one American is killed, “I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.”

In another tweet that followed Trump’s, Zarif referred to the Trump administration’s failure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, saying, “Putting your own citizens at risk abroad won't divert attention from catastrophic failures at home.”

He also attached a photo to his tweet, which listed the highest daily death rates due to a single catastrophe in the last 100 years in the United States, including the one caused by the coronavirus pandemic that has even topped the 9/11 attacks.

Source: Tehran Times