Russia and the United States on Tuesday held a round of consultations within the framework of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. According to Feoktistov, the Russian side during the talks asked whether the United States was trying to shift the focus of counter-terrorism fight to Iran.
The attempts by the United States to declare Iran as the main global threat are futile. The majority of the international community will not comply with that, Dmitry Feoktistov, the deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department on New Challenges and Threats said Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has said that neither the US nor European countries would tolerate malign activities similar to the ones Iran is undertaking.
The Russian diplomat, however, added that the US side had eventually admitted that the Daesh terrorist group and Al-Qaeda terrorist organization were still a priority.
“They have no chance of succeeding with this… The attempts to force upon others their priorities in terms of counter-terrorism, the way it is seen by the administration of [US President Donald] Trump, will not be successful because most members of the international community disagree with them,” Feoktistov said after the consultations.
Tehran has been accused by Washington and Tel Aviv of having a military presence in Syria and even of building a base there, a claim repeatedly dismissed by the Islamic Republic, which insists that it has no troops in the Arab Republic, only a few military advisers helping Damascus in its fight against terrorism.
“We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime. The sting of sanctions will be painful if the regime does not change course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it has chosen to one that rejoins the league of nations. These will indeed end up being the strongest sanctions in history when we are complete,” Pompeo said during his speech.
“We will work to prevent and counteract any Iranian malign cyber activity. We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world and crush them. Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East,” he added.
“I doubt any person who has knowledge of Iran will believe that Iran will accept any of these conditions,” Marandi told NewsFront.
“No country that has any degree of independence or dignity would accept such demands, let alone a country like Iran that has fought for its independence for decades now. I find it difficult to believe that the US is willfully heading to military confrontation because I think they recognize that Iran is incomparable to Iraq, Libya and Yemen, which the US has destroyed. Iran is a very powerful country with powerful allies across the region. It has enormous defense capabilities. The Americans know that there is sort of a balance of terror between the two sides — not that Iran is as powerful as the US, but it is strong enough to make the Americans lose tremendously,” Marandi added.
Hours after Pompeo’s speech, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that Tehran would not accept the US’ demands.
“The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence,” Rohani said in a statement to Iranian media. “Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?”
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Pompeo’s speech, saying that the US top diplomat outlined a “very strong position” in his address.
“We believe it’s the only policy that can ultimately guarantee the security of the Middle East and peace in our region,” Netanyahu said.
Marandi disagrees. “What the US is really doing by making speeches like this is making the world dislike them.”
“The Russians, the Chinese and other countries recognize that the US government is a rogue regime, that it’s a menace and that there needs to be a mechanism developed to prevent it from behaving in this manner. So, they are enhancing those forces that would potentially wish to unite to stop the US,” Marandi added.
“The mainstream media in the US is as deeply guilty as the current administration. For 40 years, they demonized Iran.They supported Saddam Hussein [president of Iraq from 1979 until 2003] and they gave him chemical weapons to kill thousands of Iranians. The relationship between Iran and the US is between a country that has tried to impose its will for decades and a country that has been trying to resist hegemony,” Marandi explained.