Mohammad Javad Zarif
Mohammad Javad ZarifReuters

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif fired back at U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, after the president blasted the Iranian regime in a statement on Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

“With millennia of civilization, Iranians have the historical depth to ignore the absurd insults of an arriviste leader; one whose entire command of history, politics and diplomacy can be condensed into 280 characters - but even so, still superior to his juvenile royal stooge,” tweeted Zarif.

In his statement on Monday, Trump wished Iranians a happy Nowruz but also blasted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), describing it as “a hostile army that brutalizes and steals from the Iranian people to fund terrorism abroad.”

Trump accused the group of “corruption and mismanagement” and said that the “regime employs propaganda and censorship to hide the fact that the Iranian regime plunders Iran’s wealth and abuses its people.”

“Despite the oppression they face, Iranians are fighting to reclaim their rights. They long for a springtime of hope, and the United States stands with the Iranian people in their aspirations to connect to the wider world and have a responsible and accountable government that truly serves their nation’s interests,” Trump added.

The words “juvenile royal stooge” in Zarif’s comment appeared to be a reference to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is visiting Washington and has issued harsh statements of his about Iran.

In an interview with CBS television last week, the Saudi Crown Prince lashed out at Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and compared him to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Khamenei "wants to create his own project in the Middle East, very much like Hitler who wanted to expand at the time," said the 32-year-old heir to the throne.

Iran later fired back, saying the Saudi Crown Prince’s remarks are “worthless ... because they come from a simple-mind full of illusions who speaks only bitterness and lies.”