TEHRAN — The Iranian government spokesman has compared the atrocities of U.S. President Donald Trump with those of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain, saying Trump has endangered the lives of Iranians more than Saddam did.

“Today, Trump has endangered the life, health and livelihood of Iranians much more aggressively and brutally than Saddam,” Ali Rabiei said in a note titled, “Yesterday’s Defense, Today's Defense”.

“If Saddam wanted to take Khuzestan and Khoramshahr and even Arvand Rud from us, today Trump has targeted every single part [of Iran] as well as undermining Iran, destroying the national moral and identity of the Iranian society,” he wrote, Mehr reported.

Rabiei wrote the article on the occasion of the Sacred Defense Week.

In Iran, the 1980-1988 war, which was imposed on Iran by Iraq’s Saddam, is known as the Sacred Defense, and the Sacred Defense Week is held on the anniversary of the beginning of the war in late September.

This year, the outbreak of the coronavirus canceled military parades in commemoration of the martyrs of the war.

“Those days, Saddam’s regime bombarded people with missiles and bombs, and today Trump’s regime has been targeting people’s health, life and livelihood with the ‘bombardment of sanctions and economic terror’,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei laments.

Iran on Monday held a ceremony to honor more than one million war veterans. The ceremony kicked off at a Sacred Defense museum in Tehran, and it was attended by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution via videoconference.

“Those days, Saddam’s regime tore down the Algiers Agreement in front of the cameras, and Trump’s regime has done the same with Barjam (nuclear agreement) with the same mindset today,” Rabiei wrote.

He said Saddam threated Iranian cities and towns with destruction and Trump has threatened to destroy Iranian cultural sites.

“Those days, Saddam’s regime bombarded people with missiles and bombs, and today Trump’s regime has been targeting people’s health, life and livelihood with the ‘bombardment of sanctions and economic terror’,” he added.

In May 2018, Trump withdrew his country from the Iran nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and introduced the “toughest ever sanctions” on Iran.

Meanwhile, Washington has accused Tehran of violating the JCPOA and attempted in vain to reimpose the UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The U.S. move to trigger what is known as the “snapback” mechanism came after its efforts to extend the UN arms embargo on Tehran failed miserably. Only the Dominican Republic joined Washington in voting yes to extend arms ban.

MH/PA