PressTV: Iran asks US to stop arming ‘main terror sponsors’

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Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi addresses reporters in Tehran in this file photo.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi addresses reporters in Tehran in this file photo.

Iran has urged the US to stop supplying arms to “main sponsors of terrorism” after President Donald Trump clinched a massive military deal with Saudi Arabia on his first visit to the Middle East. 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi called on Washington on Monday to abandon its “policy of warmongering, meddling, Iranophobia and sales of dangerous and useless weapons to the main sponsors of terrorism.”

“Unfortunately, under the hostile and aggressive policies of the American statesmen, we are witnessing a renewed strengthening of terrorist groups in the region and miscalculation of the dictatorships which support these groups,” he said.

Qassemi hit out at Trump’s accusations that Iran was funding, arming and training “terrorists, militias and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region.”



“Once again, by his meddling, repetitive and baseless claims about Iran, the American president tried to encourage the countries of the region to purchase more arms by spreading Iranophobia,” the spokesman said.

“It is surprising that Iran is being accused of destabilizing the region by a country which has been an accomplice to the Zionist regime’s crackdown on the oppressed Palestinian nation through all-out arms, financial and intelligence support for decades,” Qassemi said.

In recent years, the US “has been complicit in the massacre of the defenseless Yemeni people through arming certain Arab regimes in the Persian Gulf,” he added.

The official touched on US role in “creating and cultivating Takfiri-terrorist currents, including Daesh” and strongly criticized “deceitful stances, meddlesome statements, and destructive measures” of the new US administration.

Such measures, he said, are aimed at “confronting people’s rule on their destiny in the regional countries and consolidating the position and superiority of the Zionist regime.”

“US support and that of its regional allies for terrorists is so obvious that their escape forward and accusations of terrorism support against others have no buyers,” Qassemi said.

“If financial, arms and intelligence resources of Daesh, Nusra Front and other terrorist groups are cut, they will be finished easily. They resist because these countries’ support for the terrorists continues,” he added.

His remarks came a day after Trump ended his visit to Saudi Arabia where arms deals worth $110 billion were signed.

Qassemi said, “Regional countries, instead of spending billions of dollars from their people’s assets on an illusory American support, had better think about the real stability, welfare, tranquility and peace of their people and spend these exorbitant sums on development and constructive regional cooperation.”

Qassemi deplored that “certain regional countries, instead of depending on the power of their people and regional cooperation capacities, have set heart on the support of big powers.”

Those countries, he said, “are paving the way for vital infrastructures of the regional countries to weaken and collapse, a case in point being the deplorable situation of Yemen and destruction of Syrian infrastructures by Takfiri terrorists.”

Trump’s accusations against Tehran came shortly after Hassan Rouhani was re-elected president.

Qassemi said the US and its allies “should know that Iran, as a democratic, stable and powerful country enjoying popular support, is a harbinger of peace, tranquility and good neighborliness in the region and a front-runner in the global fight against violence and extremism,” and that Tehran would not go off this course with the hostile rhetoric of those countries.

French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian arrives at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on May 18, 2017 for the first defence council since the new French president took office. (Photos by AFP)
French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian arrives at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on May 18, 2017 for the first defence council since the new French president took office. (Photos by AFP)

France has called for further political ties with Iran as it has an “important role in the pacification” of the region.

Foreign Minister “Jean-Yves Le Drian will work towards developing political dialogue that should be part of a constructive approach with regard to solving regional crises,” said the French Foreign Ministry on Monday.

France’s stance is contradictory to comments made by US President Donald Trump, who accused Tehran of funding terrorism and stoking the fires of sectarian conflict in the region, and called on all nations to work towards isolating Iran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi has reacted to Trump’s remarks, and urged US to stop supplying arms to Saudi Arabia, which is one of the “main sponsors of terrorism.”

“Unfortunately, under the hostile and aggressive policies of the American statesmen, we are witnessing a renewed strengthening of terrorist groups in the region and miscalculation of the dictatorships which support these groups,” he said.

US President Donald Trump speaks during the Arabic Islamic American Summit at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh on May 21, 2017.

“Once again, by his meddlesome and baseless claims about Iran, the American president tried to encourage the countries of the region to purchase more arms by spreading Iranophobia,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also noted that Trump’s recent anti-Tehran remarks were aimed at “milking” Saudi Arabia.

“Iran — fresh from real elections — attacked by @POTUS in that bastion of democracy & moderation. Foreign Policy or simply milking KSA of $480B?” Zarif tweeted on Sunday.

Iran welcomes anti-terror cooperation

During a phone conversation with newly inaugurated French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said, Iran is ready for cooperation on all levels with other countries, including France, to battle terrorism and to resolve the Syrian crisis.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a press conference in Tehran on May 22, 2017.

Rouhani added that he was positive that with more cooperation, better conditions can be established for the people of the region.

“We must return peace and stability back to the region. We hope Europe does not fall into the trap of countries that encourage their wrong interpretations of the region,” Rouhani added.

The newly re-elected Iranian president also stressed that Iran has been faithful to all its JCPOA commitments, and will spare no effort towards a world without nuclear arms.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia — plus Germany signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016. Under the agreement, Iran accepted to put limitations on its program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

French President Emmanuel Macron looks on as he delivers a joint press briefing with Italian Prime Minister (unseen) during their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 21, 2017.

Macron, who had contacted Rouhani to congratulate him on his re-election, stressed the importance of the JCPOA and noted that supporting the historic nuclear deal was important for developing mutual ties.

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