Iran Urges Foiling US Divisive ME Policies, Plots

Local Editor

Iran dismissed as unfounded recent allegations made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against the Islamic Republic, urging all regional countries to heighten their vigilance in the face of the "divisive policies and plots" of American officials.

"The US, and in particular its current extremist regime, due to [its] old hostility toward the Iranian nation and opposition to all the previous [US] government's measures… is following a path which cannot be expected to bear any benefit for the US," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Friday.

Speaking at the American University in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Thursday, Pompeo claimed that Iran is a "common enemy" of the US and other countries in the region.

"President Trump has reversed our willful blindness to the danger of the [Iranian] regime and withdrew from the failed nuclear deal, with its false promises,” he added.

The US state secretary said that his country was working to reverse Iran's regional influence.

In reaction to Pompeo's claims, Qassemi said the current US administration is desperate and angry because it cannot find a replacement for a "comprehensive and legitimate" nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], it has scrapped unilaterally.

US President Donald Trump withdrew his country in May from the landmark Iran nuclear deal and decided to re-impose unilateral sanctions against Tehran. He has described the JCPOA, which was negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, as “the worst and most one-sided transaction Washington has ever entered into.”

Under the deal, reached between Iran and six major powers - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China - Tehran agreed to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.

Qassemi further criticized the US paradoxical stance on Iran and said Washington has maximized its hostility toward the Iranian nation while at the same time, it hypocritically pretends to support negotiations with Tehran.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team