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Zarif advises US against war, says dialogue still possible

Iran's foreign minister is in New York for a high-level UN meeting, where he is engaging in his characteristic public diplomacy efforts despite the US government's strict curbs on his movement in the city.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sits for an interview with Reuters in New York, New York, U.S. April 24, 2019.   REUTERS/Carlo Allegri - RC1E5EA38A00

"If there is a war, no one will be safe in our region," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said of the consequences of a possible US-Iran military conflict in an interview with the BBC in New York, where he is to attend an annual meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council. "But let us try to avoid one," Zarif added, making it clear that Iran's response to aggression "will not be blind."

The comments were the latest reaction to the recent all-time high US-Iran escalation in the Persian Gulf, which has seen American military reinforcements and the downing of a sophisticated $131 million US drone by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps near the strategic Strait of Hormuz — the pathway hosting a third of the globe's maritime oil traffic. 

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