TEHRAN, IRAN – SEPTEMBER 18: Military forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran conduct street parades and provide military training to supporters in preparation for a potential conflict with the United States and Israel on September 18, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Meghdad Madadi ATPImages/Getty Images)
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Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for not pushing back on U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to “annihilate” the Islamic republic.
In a post on X, Baqaei said that Carney chose to appease Washington by reframing a threat to “annihilate” Iran as merely “speaking the language of war.”
On Wednesday stateside, Carney had reportedly said Iran is “one of the greatest threats in the current world” and claimed it poses an “existential threat to Israel and its allies.”
When asked about Trump’s comments during the U.S. President’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Carney said: “Well, there is a war underway, and he’s speaking the language of war.”
Baqaei said that Carney, “instead of condemning U.S. blatant aggression and warmongering, chose to appease Washington.”
He added: “Mark Carney must understand that time is too ruthless to let the shelter of illusion & hypocrisy endure forever. A day will surely dawn when those who sought refuge in the long shadow of American bullying—believing that mimicking the language of the mighty could shield them from the claws of power—will stand bare before the truth.”
Trump, in his speech at the UNGA, had said he has a “big decision to make” on whether to cut a deal with Iran or “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, for his part, blamed the U.S. and Israel for stoking global instability while accusing them of launching illegal attacks on his country’s civilians and infrastructure.
Bessent’s three outcomes
Separately, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has outlined the goals for the Trump administration’s strategy for Iran.
Speaking to Fox News, Bessent said that the goal for Iran “can be one of three states.”
The first is that the Iranian regime turns “on each other… not impossible.” The second, he said, was that “we get some kind of uprising from the Iranian people,” and the last goal was that if to “get the Iranians, if they want to make a deal, to stick to the deal.”
He also said that the economic pressure against Iran was “squeezing the Iranians like they have never seen.”
External flights from Iran have dropped by 80% to 90%, Bessent said, adding, “I’m not sure how the Iranian representatives at the UN are going to get home.”
On Tuesday, Bessent had threatened to “shut down” all Iranian airlines from as soon as Wednesday, telling CNBC “How do we do that? That if they land, you cannot provide them with fuel. You cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system.”