U.S.-Iran Tensions Simmer as Trump and Rouhani Trade Threats

• U.S.-Iran Tensions Simmer as Trump and Rouhani Trade Threats
  by Nicholas Wadhams, https://www.bloombergquint.com/
  (Bloomberg) — U.S. President Donald Trump launched a new broadside against Iran, warning of unspecified “consequences” if Hassan Rouhani continues threatening America.
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  In a Twitter post late Sunday, Trump said, “To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!”
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  The threat — similar to ones Trump issued last year in warning North Korea about its rapidly improving nuclear weapons program — risks leading to a speedy escalation if neither side backs down. Oil rose as tensions over Iran countered growing concerns that trade protectionism would hit economic growth. Brent oil — the global benchmark — was trading up 1.12 percent at $73.89 a barrel as of 1:37 p.m. in London.
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  National Security Adviser John Bolton echoed Trump’s message in a statement Monday morning but cast the threat as directed against actions that might be taken by the Iranian regime rather than rhetoric.
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  “I spoke to the President over the last several days, and President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before,” Bolton said in a statement released by the White House.
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  White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to “broadcast” what actions Trump would be willing to take against Iran or what threat would prompt a response. “He’s monitoring and watching the actions of Iran. If needed, he will take what steps are necessary to protect people in this country and certainly to protect the world from nuclear proliferation,” Sanders told Fox News in an interview.
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  Trump’s tweet came hours after Rouhani warned the U.S. against threatening Iranian oil exports and called for improved relations with neighbors, including rival Saudi Arabia.
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  “We’re not fighting or at war with any country, but the enemies have to clearly understand that war with Iran will be the mother of all wars and likewise peace with Iran is the mother of all peace,” Rouhani said.
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