Spokesman Hits Back at US Vice-President for Anti-Iran Comments
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi shrugged off recent anti-Tehran remarks made by US Vice President Mike Pence and said the Islamic Republic places no value on US officials’ promises.
The Iranian nation that has got a taste of friendship and relationship with the US for decades and is fully aware of Washington’s hostile measures over the years, places no value on US officials’ empty promises, Qassemi said in a statement on Wednesday.
Despite the “deceptive” words of the US official (Mike Pence), the Islamic Republic has never been after acquiring a nuclear weapon, nor will it be in the future, the spokesman said.
The US official should have realized that Iran’s role in the fight against terrorism and its move to side with the legitimate governments of Syria and Iraq is the main reason for the failure of trans-regional countries’ plots against the people of the region and their independent governments, he added.
In a recent speech at the Israeli parliament, Pence called the Islamic Republic “the leading state sponsor of terror” and said, “… We see Iran seeking to dominate the wider Arab world.”
He further accused Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon and, pointing to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany), said the deal is “a disaster, and the United States of America will no longer certify this ill-conceived agreement”.
Last week, US President Donald Trump extended waivers of economic sanctions on Iran for another 120 days but said he was doing so “for the last time.”
Although the US president declined to withdraw from the Iran deal, which he has long railed against and formerly promised to “rip up”, he gave a four-month deadline to the US Congress and America’s main European allies to address what he called the “disastrous flaws” of the deal.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif condemned the US president’s reluctant announcement on the nuclear sanctions waiver, saying, “Trump’s policy & today’s announcement amount to desperate attempts to undermine a solid multilateral agreement, maliciously violating its paras 26, 28 & 29.”
He further stressed that the deal is “not renegotiable” and urged Trump to, instead of repeating tired rhetoric, bring the US into full compliance of the deal, just like Iran.
