Any U.S. mistake would 'be like firing a powder keg,' Iran says

Abbas Mousavi. — (Image credit: ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)

Although President Trump decided not to launch a military strike against Iran, the two sides continue to spar verbally.

Iran said it would respond firmly to any U.S. threat against it, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday, one day after Trump said he called off a military strike to retaliate for Iran shooting down a U.S. drone on Thursday. Trump, though, told NBC News if the time for war does come there will be "obliteration like you've never seen before."

Iran responded in kind. "We will not allow any of Iran's borders to be violated," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told Tasnim. "Iran will firmly confront any aggression or threat by America." Abolfazl Shekarchi, the senior spokesman for Iran's armed forces, told Tasnim that "any mistake by Iran's enemies," especially the U.S., would "be like firing a powder keg that will burn America, its interests, and its allies to the ground."

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.