Iran FM Not Confident War Can Be Avoided as US Deploys Troops

Iran general warns any nation that attacks will become 'main battlefield' for war

In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that Iran does not intend to start a war in the region, but that he is “not confident that we can avoid a war,” with US forces being deployed to the Saudi coast.

Zarif went on to caution that Iran is prepared to defend itself from an attack, and that any attacker won’t be in for a “limited war.” He added that US deployments were sending the situation in “the wrong direction.”

Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami also said that Iran is ready for “any type of scenario,” and cautioned that whichever nation attacks Iran would find their own country would be the “main battlefield.”

Saudi Arabia has been pushing for moves against Iran, accusing them of attacking Saudi oil refineries. The US is sending troops to defend the Saudi sites, but there remains concern that this is going to quickly spiral out of control into a military confrontation.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.