Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said in an exclusive interview on Sunday that US President Donald Trump crossed a “very dangerous red line” by killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Khatibzadeh said many Shiite believers around the world would react to Khamenei’s killing.
“Of course, from a religious perspective, he was a great religious leader, so many Shiite believers in the region and around the world will react to this. This is very clear because President Trump has crossed a very dangerous line,” Khatibzadeh said.
“We have no choice but to respond,” he added.
Saturday’s airstrikes prompted Iran to respond with an unprecedented series of airstrikes across the Middle East, targeting several countries that host U.S. military bases, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The strike continued throughout the weekend, causing civilian deaths, property damage, and halting air and sea traffic.
Khatibzadeh said Iran has contacted Gulf Arab states to shut down U.S. military bases that Tehran considers a threat.
“We have communicated with them. We have no choice but to shut down the US military bases that are constantly threatening Iran and constantly using them to anger Iran, or just resist,” he said.
He added that Iran “does not have the option of attacking bases under U.S. jurisdiction because it cannot reach the U.S. mainland.”
Asked if diplomacy was still an option, he said the United States had “let down” Iran many times and said there was “no need to launch this invasion.”
“If President Trump didn’t want to see Iran strike back, he shouldn’t have started this war in the first place,” the official said. “It was a war of choices.”
