Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton called Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif a “cowardly” on Wednesday and challenged him on Twitter to a debate on the U.S. constitution “to debate Iran’s record of tyranny, treachery, & terror.”
Cotton was replying to Zarif’s comments at New York University Wednesday that a deal with Iran will be accompanied by the removal of sanctions “whether Sen. Cotton likes it or not.”
Cotton then dared Zarif to a debate but assumed that Zarif would turn down the opportunity because of his “cowardly character” he demonstrated by deciding to “hide” in the United States during the Iran-Iraq war.
Zarif, speaking about the next president after Obama, said at the university:
The resolution will endorse the agreement, will terminate all previous resolutions including all sanctions, will set in place the termination of EU sanctions and the cessation of applications of all U.S. sanctions…
I’ve studied and lived in the U.S. I know enough about the U.S. Constitution and U.S. procedures, but as a foreign government I only deal with U.S. government. I do not deal with U.S. Congress.
Cotton, who last month penned a letter to the Iranian government that it “may not fully understand our constitutional system,” tweeted yesterday:
Hey @JZarif, I hear you called me out today. If you’re so confident, let’s debate the Constitution.
Here’s offer: meet in DC, @JZarif, time of your choosing to debate Iran’s record of tyranny, treachery, & terror.
I understand if you decline @JZarif after all, in your 20s, you hid in US during Iran-Iraq war while peasants & kids were marched to die.
