Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi condemned US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s toxic remarks against Iran as “hypocritical and absurd” and said the Iranian nation will counter Washington’s conspiracies by closing ranks.
In remarks released on Monday, Qassemi deplored Pompeo’s comments during a gathering of Iranian-American citizens on Sunday night and said, “The US secretary of state’s hypocritical and absurd speech in the meeting was largely a propaganda exercise and showed the depth of desperation of the US administration more than ever,” Tasnim News Agency reported.
“Such remarks are a clear example of US interference in Iran's internal affairs and in line with its long-term destabilizing and destructive policies in the region, which indeed are in violation of its international obligations,” he said.
On the one hand, Washington calls the Iranians terrorists and puts the name of Iran on the list of countries whose citizens are subject to restrictions and a ban on entry into the US, and on the other, it makes fraudulent claims and feigns a false and hypocritical role of friendship with the people of Iran, he said.
***Fomenting Unrest
In a speech titled “Supporting Iranian Voices,” Pompeo told members of the Iranian-American community that the leadership in Tehran “resembles the mafia more than a government.”
Pompeo stopped short of calling for regime change, but announced stepped-up US government broadcasting in Farsi to foment unrest against the government, the Independent reported.
He said the US Broadcasting Board of Governors is taking steps to circumvent internet censorship in Iran, and create a round-the-clock Farsi channel television, radio, digital and social media formats, “so that ordinary Iranians inside Iran and around the globe will know that America stands with them”.
“Throughout history, Iranians have never accepted any foreign domination and bullying policies, and certainly, in these sensitive times, they not only give no importance to the policies of the current president and the warmongering minority in the US…, but also will respond to such statements and meddlesome moves by the US officials with their exemplary solidarity,” Qassemi emphasized.
Some members of the beleaguered Trump White House and his inner circle have been outspoken hawks on Iran. Before joining the White House, national security adviser John R Bolton, a known neocon, called for the overthrow of the system in Tehran.
Rudolph W Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, has given paid speeches to the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization, a banned dissident group that the State Department listed as a terrorist group until 2012.
****Psychological Campaign
In related news, a commander of Iran Revolution Guards Corps was quoted as saying Monday that overnight threats by Trump against Iran amount to a “psychological warfare”, and Tehran will continue to resist its enemies,
“We will never abandon our revolutionary values and we will resist pressure from enemies. America wants nothing less than destroying Iran ... (but) Trump cannot do a damn against Iran,” ISNA reported Gholamhossein Gheibparvar as saying.
Rouhani said on Sunday that Trump’s hostile policies toward Tehran could lead to “the mother of all wars”.
Trump responded angrily late Sunday in a Twitter message written in capitals, telling Rouhani to “never, ever threaten the US again” or face the consequences, Reuters reported.
“Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before,” Trump said in an all-caps post on his Twitter account.
US officials familiar with the matter told Reuters that an ongoing communications offensive by the Trump administration was meant to work in conjunction with a sanctions push to foment unrest and help pressure Iran to end its nuclear program and its support of resistance groups.
***Germany Calls for Restraint
Germany called for restraint amid escalating rhetoric between the leaders of Iran and the United States.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger told reporters in Berlin on Monday, "We support dialogue and talks, and we call on all sides to exercise restraint and rhetorical disarmament, AP reported.
Burger said that "threats of military force are never helpful, and I think that particularly in the tense situation in the Middle East this is not a helpful means of discourse."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is praising Trump for his "strong stance" on Iran.
Netanyahu said on Monday that Trump and his secretary of state were taking a clear position against "Iranian aggression" after years in which the "regime was pampered by world powers."
