Iran has retracted its offer of regional de-escalation, blaming President Trump’s threats and continued U.S.-Israeli military strikes for intensifying a conflict that the Iranian Foreign Minister called a “war of choice” harming the American economy.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated on Saturday as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed President Donald Trump for “killing” Tehran’s brief openness to de-escalation, following a pre-recorded broadcast from President Masoud Pezeshkian that apologized for strikes on regional neighbors while vowing never to surrender.
The diplomatic rift widened after Trump responded to Pezeshkian’s conditional peace offer by labeling Iran “THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST” on Truth Social and warning that “today Iran will be hit very hard,” a move Araghchi characterized as a dangerous misinterpretation of Iranian resolve. Pointing to a 32-cent spike in U.S. gas prices following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, Araghchi goaded the administration over the war’s domestic cost, declaring, “This is a war of choice pursued by a small cabal of ‘Israel Firsters’, and ‘Israel First’ always means ‘America Last.’”
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