Speaking in a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Hassan Rouhani described Trump’s visit on the eve of Christmas as ridiculous.
“You secretly enter a small military base … take photos with several soldiers, deliver a short speech and after one or two hours depart Iraq,” Rouhani said.
Rouhani noted the trip shows the US interventions in the region, particularly it’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, have brought nothing but shame for the US.
“These show you have been unsuccessful. This means you were defeated. This means the Iraqi people are angry with you,” he said.
The Iranian president further mentioned that Trump will not dare to appear among Iraqis or even visit Lebanon, Syria or Yemen, which means the US is highly unpopular among nations in the region.
“I hope [Americans] will learn these lessons and stop interfering in these nations’ affairs … particularly Palestine … and start respecting law,” he underlined.
On December 26, Trump spent a few hours at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq’s western Anbar Province, but did not visit the capital Baghdad.
Afterwards, a scheduled meeting between Trump and Iraqi Premier Adil Abdul-Mahdi was scrapped and they only talked over the phone.
Days later, Trump acknowledged the security concerns about visiting Iraq.
“Pretty sad when you spend $7 trillion in the Middle East, and going in has to be under this massive cover with planes all over and all of the greatest equipment in the world, and you do everything to get in safely,” tweeted Trump.
