Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Wednesday that he doesn’t think President Trump wants a conflict with Tehran, but could be “lured into one.”
“I don’t think he wants war. But that doesn’t exclude him being basically lured into one,” Zarif told Reuters.
{mosads}Zarif said Trump could be lured into war by what he described as a “B-team” featuring national security adviser John Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the news service.
Zarif added that Iran “is not seeking confrontation,” but also “will not escape defending itself.”
“Those who have designed the policies that are being pursued do not simply want a negotiated solution. But let me make it clear that Iran is not seeking confrontation, but will not escape defending itself,” he said.
The U.S. and Iran have had a contentious relationship under Trump.
The president last year withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. Trump has since reimposed sanctions on the country.
This month, the Trump administration also labeled Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a “foreign terrorist organization” and announced it would not renew sanction waivers that allowed several foreign countries to purchase oil from Iran without facing sanctions.