Former diplomat Hossein Mousavian has urged the US and Arab countries in the region to end animosity toward Iran and begin a new era of interaction in light of the grave developments visiting the strategic but troubled region.
"Today despite all the hostilities, Iran is the most stable, most powerful and most influential country in the region. Therefore, I propose that the United States and Arab countries end their enmity toward Iran and begin an era of interaction and cooperation," IRNA quoted him as saying on Friday in the annual meeting of American political decision makers in Washington.
Some 1,000 guests including former politicians from the US and Arab world were present.
Mousavian said, "Over the past 35 years following Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, the US and most Arab countries have pursued a dual-purpose policy on Iran, initially aimed at regime change, and if not successful, efforts aimed at weakening and isolating Iran."
“US and Arab countries have tried all options, including invading Iran, using weapons of mass destruction against Iran, imposing the toughest sanctions, clandestine warfare, and simultaneously all the while they have been claiming that Iran has expanded its influence in the region and in the Arab world,” he noted.
"Now we see that the Arab League has lost credibility, some US allies have been ousted, and some Arab countries are on the verge of collapse."
Mousavian also touched on the regional crises and advances of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria and said, “The US is incapable of managing the Middle East crisis, the (so-called) Arab-Israeli peace effort is defeated due to the stubborn attitude of (Israeli PM Benjamin) Netanyahu, and not due to Iran’s policies, and the region is facing a bigger threat of terrorism and extremism, lead by the IS.”
Such circumstances demand the US and Arab countries enter into serious talks with Tehran and "I am confident that Tehran will be open to any constructive partnership."
The former top nuclear negotiator (2003-2005) and now a research scholar at Princeton University described US and world powers' demands to curb Iran’s nuclear activities as going "far beyond international law" and opined that such moves will lead nowhere.
