Tehran, July 31 (RHC)-- Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has offered quick history lessons to U.S. President Donald Trump -- known for his aversion to reading -- and advised him to spurn the “fake” information that a group of hawkish politicians provide him with.
On Tuesday, Trump indicated on Twitter that the U.S. was outsmarted by Iran in a nuclear deal that was negotiated by former U.S. President Barack Obama and that Trump unilaterally withdrew from.
In his tweet, the current occupant of the White House said Iran “never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!” Shortly afterwards, Foreign Minister Zarif reminded Trump of millennia of Iranian — and some decades of American -- history. “For millennia, Iranians have outlasted every aggressor,” Zarif tweeted later on Tuesday. “But, the U.S. has spent $7 trillion & rivers of blood in our region, in its biggest failure since Vietnam.”
Zarif then addressed Trump directly, calling on him to “reject #B_Team's fake history & its thirst for #ForeverWar.” The “B-team” is a term thrown into popular usage by Zarif. It refers to a group of politicians who share an inclination toward potential war with Iran, and the letter “b” in their names. They include U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The term is also a tacit reference to the group’s competence, always lagging behind the proverbial “A-team.” Bolton had used the exact same sentence used by Trump in his Tuesday tweet in a piece published on The Hill. Zarif made a reference to that imitation by highlighting the sentence in a screenshot of the article.
Bolton is notorious for his tendency for war. “Bolton has never seen a war he doesn’t like” is a common saying that has percolated about him in political circles since he was ambassador to the United Nations under former U.S. President George W. Bush. After he had to leave that post, Bush said of him: “I don’t consider Bolton credible.”
In his Tuesday tweet, Zarif further highlighted the importance of diplomacy versus war. "Diplomacy=prudence; never weakness,” the Iranian foreign minister wrote.
Trump has long said the U.S. was shortchanged in the Iran deal. This is while he is believed to have never read the document. He made his first rejectionist comments about the deal to the CNN on the day it was signed and before its details were even publicized.