U.S. President Donald Trump will fail in his confrontation with Iran, just like Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, referring to the 1980-1988 war between the two Middle Eastern powers and vowing that Tehran will not abandon its missiles.
Tensions have ramped up between Iran and the United States after Trump withdrew from a landmark multilateral nuclear deal in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic last month.
Iran has suggested in recent weeks that it could take military action in the Gulf to block other countries' oil exports in retaliation for U.S. sanctions intended to halt its sales of crude.
Washington maintains a fleet in the Gulf that protects oil shipping routes.
"The same will happen to Trump. America will suffer the same fate as Saddam Hussein," Rouhani said in a speech carried live by state television.
"Iran will not abandon its defensive weapons ... including its missiles that make America so angry," Rouhani said.
Also over the weekend, Iran's foreign minister tweeted on Friday that the Trump administration was a threat to the Middle East and to the global community.
"It is true that there is a real threat to our region and to international peace and security: that threat is the Trump administration's sense of entitlement to destabilize the world along with rogue accomplices in our region," Mohammad Javad Zarif said. "The U.S. must start acting like a normal state."
Separately, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Friday that Iran has not requested a meeting with Trump, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
A "Western news agency" reported that Iran requested such a meeting during the United Nations General Assembly which began this week, citing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, according to IRNA, which did not identify the agency.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has never put forth a request for a meeting with Trump," Qassemi said.
