Iranian first VP dismisses hostile posturing by US

Iran’s first vice president has dismissed recent anti-Iran posturing by the United States, saying “threadbare” accusations against Iran are aimed by Washington at scaring away investors.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has recently ratcheted up its rhetoric against Iran. Trump himself, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and White House national security adviser Michael Flynn have all recently made anti-Iran comments. Mattis on Saturday called Iran “the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.”

Reacting on the same day, Is’haq Jahangiri, the Iranian first vice president, said accusations that Iran supports terrorism have gone threadbare.

“The Iranian nation and authorities do not attach the least value to these remarks,” he said.

Had it not been for Iran, Jahangiri said, Syria would have today fallen to the Daesh terrorist group, “Arab countries would have been encircled by Daesh, and no one would have known what al-Qaeda would be doing in Afghanistan.”

He said Iran was present wherever it was necessary to help restore stability.

“Over the recent years, wherever they planted terrorism to disrupt the region, the country that was present on the battlefield against terror was the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.

Iran has most recently been lending advisory military support to the Syrian and Iraqi militaries against terrorism.

Pointing to the anti-Iran rhetoric by the US officials, Jahangiri said, “These accusations against Iran have become [mere] rehashes, and even the accuser is ashamed of making the claim that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism.”

The senior Iranian official said the accusations are meant to slow down Iran’s progress by dissuading domestic and foreign investors.

On Friday, the US administration also imposed new sanctions against Iran over a recent missile test by the Islamic Republic and its “continued support for terrorism.”

Jahangiri said the parties imposing the sanctions on Iran have witnessed the difference between when they impose bans and when they engage in interaction with the Islamic Republic.

“If a language of respect is used to talk to the Iranian nation and if issues are resolved through dialog and negotiation, then, as stated by President [Hassan Rouhani], the outcome could be a win for all.”