Washington’s Anti-Iran Rhetoric Not to End Soon

The administration of US President Donald Trump is stepping up its anti-Iran policy. This is evidenced by the recent statements stated by Trump himself, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other high-ranking American officials.

Sputnik spoke to political analyst, Vladimir Sazhin, about how far the US would go in its anti-Iran policy.

"The first and main complaint of the new US administration was not to Iran, but to the previous administration of Barack Obama, with regard to the nuclear deal. President Trump, who is quite hostile to Obama, could not recognize the merit of his predecessor, including the achievements of a historic agreement on the Iranian nuclear program," Sazhin said.

The agreement, which was concluded by five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and Iran, is called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The new US administration is struggling to undermine the agreement to appease its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, but risks isolation as other signatories have reaffirmed their commitment to uphold it.

Tillerson recently claimed the agreement only delayed the transformation of Iran into a nuclear state.

Tehran says its nuclear activities have no military aspects and are totally for civilian purposes, which has been verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"The Trump administration, unlike the Obama team, is in full solidarity with Israel in this case," Sazhin said.

The question arises: Can Washington withdraw from this nuclear agreement?

Mohammed Kazem Sajjadpour, president of Iran's Institute for Political and International Studies, told Sputnik that Washington has little say in the matter.

"JCPOA is an international deal, concluded within the framework of international law with the participation of the UN Security Council. The multilaterally agreed framework of this transaction is not so easy to review and it is impossible to change the essence of the agreement," Sajjadpour said.

  Other Pretexts

What Trump can do is to slow down the process of its implementation by ratcheting up the anti-Iran propaganda rhetoric.

"Trump has other reasons to accuse Tehran and one such reason is the Iranian missile program," the analyst said.

After the conclusion of the nuclear agreement and adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the US picked on Iranian missile tests as a new pretext to browbeat Iran.

The resolution calls on Iran not to work on ballistic missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads. Tehran says its missile program is only meant to develop conventional weapons to boost the country's deterrence capability. Sajjadpour added that another factor, which can serve as a reason for accusations against Iran is its support for resistance groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which have been labeled as terrorist organizations by some western and regional countries.

Furthermore, Washington can also use the human rights issues in Iran as an excuse for introducing sanctions against it.

"Naturally, the understanding of human rights in Europe and America differs from their interpretation in the Muslim world. However, the death penalty in Iran faces a lot of criticism from the international community," Sajjadpour said.

"Objectively speaking, freedom and human rights in Iran are incomparably broader than in Saudi Arabia and other monarchies."

Sajjadpour said the US is allying itself with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Israel to scuttle Iran's progress on the international stage.

"Despite a noticeable move away from Tehran, in all likelihood, the White House has not yet fully and clearly formed a concrete policy toward Iran. However, the fact that it will be a tough anti-Iranian policy, perhaps with the introduction of new sanctions, is not to be doubted," he concluded.

Tehran maintains a peaceful strategy and has not resorted to any tactical response. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the recent statements by the US are "repetitive and useless rhetoric" and that Trump's anti-Iranian policy is based on Iranophobia and a misunderstanding of the current state of affairs in the region.