Exclusive: Trump crossed a ‘very dangerous red line’ with killing of supreme leader, Iranian official tells CNN

By Frederik Pleitgen and Mostafa Salem

(CNN) — US President Donald Trump has crossed “a very dangerous red line” by killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told CNN in an exclusive interview on Sunday.

Khatibzadeh said many Shiite followers across the world will react to the killing of Khamenei.

“Of course, from a religious aspect, he was a great religious leader, so many of Shiite followers across the region and around the world are going to react to that, and this is very obvious because President Trump passed a very dangerous red line,” Khatibzadeh said.

“We have no option but to respond,” he added.

Following the strikes Saturday, Iran responded with an unprecedented wave of strikes across the Middle East, targeting several countries that host US military bases, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Strikes have continued throughout the weekend, killing civilians, damaging property and bringing air and water traffic to a standstill.

Khatibzadeh said that Iran had communicated with Gulf Arab states to shut down US bases which Tehran considers a threat.

“We communicated with them: either to shut down those American bases that are constantly threatening Iran and are constantly using to offend on Iran, or we have no option just to push back,” he said.

Iran “cannot reach out to American soil, so we have no option just to attack any bases which is under US jurisdiction,” he added.

Asked whether diplomacy is still an option, he said the US has “disappointed” Iran several times and there was “no necessity to start this aggression.”

“If President Trump didn’t want to see Iran hitting back … President Trump should have not started this war from the beginning,” the official said. “It was a war of choice.”

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