TRUMP THREATENS ‘OBLITERATION’ AFTER IRAN SUGGESTS HE HAS A ‘MENTAL DISORDER’

Hassan Rouhani and US president traded insults similar to 2017 clashes between US and North Korea while ramping up sanctions

Donald Trump signs an executive order for additional sanctions against Iran and its leadership at the White House in Washington DC, on 24 June. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/POOL/EPA

The Iranian and US presidents have traded insults, with Hassan Rouhani suggesting that Donald Trump suffered from a “mental disorder” and Trump once more threatening Iran with “obliteration”.

The very personal exchange was reminiscent of similar verbal clashes between the US and North Korean leaders in late 2017, and underlined the volatility of US foreign policymaking in the present standoff in the Gulf. Trump has swung between dire threats and offers of talks without preconditions, while ramping up sanctions.

The worsening confrontation became significantly more personal this week when the US imposed sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and eight military commanders, and threatened measures against the foreign minister, Javad Zarif.

On Tuesday, Rouhani responded by describing the US president as “afflicted by a mental disorder” and said the sanctions against Khamenei were “outrageous and idiotic” – especially as the 80-year-old cleric has no overseas assets and no plans to ever travel to the US.

The insult was an echo of Kim Jong-un’s broadside against the US president in September 2017, when he called Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard ”. The slanging match between Trump and Kim ultimately gave way to summitry and claims of mutual affection (with Trump even claiming they “fell in love”). The path to a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran, however, looks far more complicated.

As it has frequently in the past, the reference to Trump’s mental faculties triggered an emotional response, and a furry tweets.

“Iran leadership doesn’t understand the words ‘nice’ or ‘compassion,’ they never have. Sadly, the thing they do understand is Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world, with 1.5 Trillion Dollars invested over the last two years alone,” he wrote.

“The U.S. has not forgotten Iran’s use of IED’s & EFP’s (bombs), which killed 2000 Americans, and wounded many more … Any attack by Iran  on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration.”

Trump’s estimate of US casualties is much higher than the Pentagon estimate of 600.

Iran has been adamant it will not be pressured into concessions and will not negotiate with the US under the current oil, banking and trade embargo.

The Trump administration has accompanied the buildup of economic pressure with offers to talk. In recent days, Trump has said that offer is without preconditions. However, there have been mixed messages over what any talks would be about. State department officials have insisted a wide-ranging list of 12 US demands, including withdrawal from Syria and cutting support to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, would have to be met for sanctions to be lifted.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that his sole concern is that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. Zarif on Tuesday restated Iron’s insistence that ould never pursue a nuclear weapon, saying Islam prevented the country from doing so.

Iran has previously said it is ideologically and religiously opposed to acquiring nuclear weapons and seeks nuclear power only for civilian purposes. But in the current unpredictable climate it is possible Trump could pick up Zarif’s remarks as a signal to talk.

Tehran has warned that on Thursday it will breach the limits on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium set out in the 2015 nuclear deal. Without sanctions relief, it will take a further – potentially more significant – step on 8 July of raising the level at which it enriches uranium, above the 3.67% agreed in 2015.