No War will break Out between Tehran, Washington, Says Shamkhani

Iran’s top security official says there will be no war between Iran and the United States amid ongoing tensions between the two countries and Washington’s military buildup in the Gulf region.

 “Despite a propaganda campaign against Iran by certain [countries], no war will break out because there is no reason for a war,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani told IRIB reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 10th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in the Russian city of Ufa.

He said that leveling accusations against other countries has turned into “a common practice” among US officials, adding that they try to pressure other nations through this approach.

Shamkhani said the US has launched an economic war against Iran in an attempt to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees but stressed that Iranian people have stood up against US pressures.

Tensions have mounted between Iran and the US as Washington has adopted a policy of “maximum” pressure against Tehran.

The Pentagon said on Monday that the US will send 1,000 additional forces and more military resources to the Middle East to address “threats” in the region.

Such deployments began in May when the US sent an aircraft carrier strike group to the region along with Patriot missile batteries, among other reinforcements, citing alleged Iranian threats.

Shortly before the announcement for deployment of additional troops in the Gulf, the Pentagon released a blurry video that it claimed showed Iranian boats removing a mine from one of two tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman on June 13.

The US has blamed Iran for the attack, which hit one Japanese-owned and one Norwegian-owned tanker. The tankers were carrying Japanese-related crude near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Apart from the UK, European governments have not echoed the US claim that Iran was behind the attack on the two tankers.

Tehran has vigorously denied the allegation, calling the attack “suspicious.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the US accusation lacks “a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence” and that it was actually part of “sabotage diplomacy” being pursued by US President Donald Trump and his hawkish allies.

The attacks took place just as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

Iran has time and again said that it won’t initiate any war with any state, even the US, but will give a crushing response to any act of aggression and defend the nation’s interests.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran does not seek war with any state, but stressed that the Iranian nation will be the ultimate winner of any warfare against the Islamic Republic.

“We will not wage a war with any nation. Those facing us are a group of politicians with little experience,” said Rouhani.

He said ill-wishers have launched a “war of hope and wills” against the Iranian nation, adding that the enemies are attempting to create despair among the Iranian nation, but stressed that Iranians are determined to defeat such plots.

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