Iran calls Pompeo's remarks 'absurd, interventionist'

Iran's Foreign Ministry has called the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's threatening remarks of crushing Iran "absurd and interventionist."

The Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi on Monday said that this is United States' new tactic to distract the global attention from its "illegal moves" regarding Iran's nuclear deal by threatening and insulting the Iranian nation, as per Xinhua.

According to Qasemi, the problems in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Afghanistan are the outcome of the US policies in the region.

Iran can legally sue the United States over its illegal measures and threats, he added.

The US Secretary of State had earlier said that the US will "crush" Iran with military pressure and by imposing sanctions till the time it changes its behaviour in the Middle East.

Pompeo said the US will monitor Tehran's regional activities, restrict its influence in the Middle East and ensure that it never acquires a nuclear weapon.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced the Washington withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran nuclear deal which limited the country's uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief.

The Iran nuclear deal was signed between six countries in 2015 - Iran, US, Britain, Germany, Russia, France and China for lifting economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limitations to the country's nuclear programme.