Iranian FM warns Trump against warmongering ‘B-Team’

ANKARA

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday warned U.S. President Donald Trump against what he described as “the infamous B-Team”, members of which, he said, sought to promote conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

In a Wednesday tweet, Zarif told Trump to “be careful”, adding: “You campaigned against costly and stupid [foreign military] interventions”.

“The conniving cabal of warmongers & butchers, the infamous #B_Team, are plotting for way more than what you bargained for,” he said.

Zarif went on to identify “B-Team” members as U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Iranian FM also addressed U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who previously served as director of the CIA, saying: “You [Pompeo] continue to do the same at State [i.e., the U.S. State Department].”

Zarif’s remarks appear to come in response to comments made by Pompeo last week, in which he said of his time as CIA director: “We lied, we cheated, we stole.”

Recent days have seen mounting tension between Washington and Tehran, with the latter threatening to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to U.S. sanctions on Iran’s energy sector.