Vice President of Iran: "We would have stopped enrichment if we had known they would eliminate Khamenei"
Jafar Gampane admitted that the price Iran paid for its refusal to stop the nuclear program is too high. "What cost could be higher than the martyrdom of the Supreme Leader?" the Vice President wondered. In Tehran, they are threatening the United States: "We will strike at America's economic interests if the blockade continues - we will send Netanyahu to hell."
Vice President of Iran Jafar Gampane said on Friday that he would have stopped uranium enrichment if he had known that the United States would kill the Supreme Leader of Iran, according to statements published in the country's state media and reported by the news network "Iran International".
"If it were up to me, and I had known that America would eliminate our leader, I would have stopped uranium enrichment," said Gampane, Senior Vice President to President Masoud Pezeshkian.
"Why should they harm our industries and roads? Why should they harm our refineries and electricity?" he said. "Damage to electricity and refineries means our unemployment will rise."
Gampane stated that Iran must avoid paying excessive costs for goals that can be achieved at a lower price. "What cost could be higher than the martyrdom of the Supreme Leader? We are not all supposed to die as martyrs. Iran is supposed to remain," he added.
"We will strike at US economic interests"
Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Mohsen Rezaei, said on Thursday that Iran would focus on US economic interests if Washington continues its naval blockade, as the Trump administration increases its efforts to tighten Iran's economic isolation.
"If the blockade continues, we will focus on US economic interests 100 percent, with power and force," Rezaei told the Lebanese television channel Al-Manar.
Rezaei also warned Israel against resuming the war, saying that any new conflict would be different from previous rounds. "We will send Netanyahu to hell," he said, adding that the Israeli Prime Minister had made "big mistakes" that brought Israel closer to its end.
Tehran has taken a tougher stance since a ceasefire agreed upon in June failed to lead to a broader agreement and the subsequent memorandum of understanding expired, despite growing economic problems and Washington's recent announcement of an "economic invasion day" against Iran.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is preparing to pressure G20 finance ministers next week to comply with Washington's sanctions on Iran, according to AFP. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Tehran is "begging to make a deal," and declared in a social media post that "Iran is a failed nation!"
