The Speaker of Iran’s parliament has described the 71-year-old US President Donald Trump, who has taken a tough line on Iran since coming to power, as a scoundrel and dismissed his anti-Iran tweets as hot air.

Ali Larijani made the remarks Tuesday in response to a lawmaker asking for his view on Trump’s threats early Monday, ICANA reported.

“Such nonsense remarks do not need to be responded. His comments were not words of a diplomat but were words of a rascal. He and his boss are known for corruption in the international arena,” Larijani said.

By “boss” Larijani was most probably referring to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who holds close ties with Trump and said last week he has convinced Trump to pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal early May.

“Unfortunately, the US faces disorder and savagery in its diplomatic relations. The US is following ignorant diplomacy in the international arena,” Larijani said.

Trump threatened Iran that it will suffer harsh consequences if it “threatens the United States again,” in a reaction to remarks by his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani Sunday who advised Trump not to “play with lion’s tail”.

Following its withdrawal from the pact, the US has threatened to impose the “strongest sanctions in history” that will destroy the Iranian economy unless Tehran accepts a list of 12 demands Washington has put forward.

Among other conditions, the list asks Tehran to halt missile development, stop what the US believes are Iran’s interventions in the affairs of Iraq, Syria and Yemen and cease support for groups which the US considers terrorist but Iran sees as legitimate resistance forces.