IN A BID to promote "peace in the world," President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, July 25, called on other nations to stop goading Iran into going to war that might lead to the "end of the planet earth."
In a speech delivered in Davao City, Duterte was initially talking about his strong desire to mitigate the impact of climate change, when he diverted his attention to the potentially grave repercussions of provoking Iran to launch a war.
"Before anything else, there has to be peace in the world," the President said on Wednesday night.
"Stop egging Iran to go to war. Because then if that's what will happen, even [if it's just] about a few hundreds of missiles, nuclear, then there's no use of talking about climate change. The nuclear explosion, every time it's being done, it erodes the dignity of earth altogether," he added.
Duterte's statement came amid the escalating tensions between the United States (US) and Iran.
On July 23, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vehemently warned US President Donald Trump that a confrontation between US and Iran would be "the mother of all wars."
The Iranian leader's mesage came following Trump's earlier decision to withdraw the Iran nuclear deal brokered during the Obama administration.
In May, Trump explained that the Iranian nuclear bombing cannot pe prevented "under the decaying and rotten structure" of the Islamic government.
Unfazed by Rouhani's latest threat, Trump issued an all-caps remarks against Iran on his official Twitter account on July 23, threatening war with the Islamic Republic.
"To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!" Trump said.
Duterte said a possible nuclear confrontation "is not good for everybody."
The President also stressed the need to "stop this thing about exploding missiles."
"Before anything else, let us decide that we avoid war because that would be a disaster. I think that would be the end of the planet earth," Duterte said.
"And so it behooves upon the leaders of nations who are really there and who can make the change, they can do much. And we appreciate the nations who approach the problem in sobriety, understanding, and providing the cooler heads, so to speak," he added. (VoxPop Philippines)
