Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned the United States against provoking Tehran, saying that conflict with the country would be “the mother of all wars.”

“Don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret,” the Iranian leader said while speaking to Iranian diplomats on Sunday, local news agencies reported. “The Americans must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.”

Iranians will only be “united" by further threats from the US, Rouhani said, adding that the Islamic Republic “will certainly defeat America.“

The new string of sharp comments from the Iranian president came a day after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backed the idea of blocking all oil exports from the region by closing the Strait of Hormuz in the event of Iran’s exports being banned. Meanwhile, the US is pressing its allies to completely cut imports of Iranian crude in response to Tehran’s alleged malign activities. Those who fail to comply with America’s request would be targeted by secondary US sanctions.

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Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been mounting since Trump took office. The US leader has been a long-time critic of the historic 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, and walked away from the agreement, calling to fix its alleged flaws. However, the other parties to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), condemned the move and assured that they remain strongly committed to the agreement.

Apart from attempts to exert international pressure and re-impose sanctions on Iran, that were in force till the JCPOA, the US launched an online campaign to distort Iranian leadership, according to Reuters report citing unnamed “US officials familiar with the matter.”

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