A lawmaker slammed US President Donald Trump's stance toward the Korean Peninsula's latest standoff, saying his belligerent approach and the broken promises by the US administrations regarding the reclusive state in the past have pushed the region to the verge of a catastrophic war.
In a recent talk with ICANA, lawmaker Morteza Saffari, a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said it was very likely that the tensions would force the main players, namely North Korea, South Korea and the US, to sit at the negotiating table to resolve the crisis, but "Trump's behavior is increasing the threat of war."
With his previous threat to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea and warning that the US military is "locked and loaded" to respond to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un's provocations, Trump set up a test of wills with his unpredictable adversary.
Pyongyang on Saturday conducted its first test of a hydrogen (thermonuclear) bomb. The device was 10 times more powerful than any of those detonated in North Korea's five earlier atomic (fission) nuclear tests, signifying yet another surprise breakthrough in its nuclear program.
Every time that the Trump administration has raised pressure and rhetoric against Pyongyang, through sanctions, condemnations and military maneuvers and exercises, Kim has upped the ante in its showdown with Trump.
Saffari said, "Kim Jong-un wants to make Trump understand that he would not let Washington do whatever it wants in the Far East and let North Korea be threatened. As long as the aggressive behavior by Trump continues, the nuclear tests will continue."
Opposition to Nuke Tests
Recalling the religious decree by the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei forbidding weapons of mass destructions, the parliamentarian said Iran was worried over the stockpiles of atomic arms around the world.
"Logically, the Islamic Republic is against the testing of atomic bombs by any country. Tehran's stance in this regard is that we are against North Korea's atomic bomb tests," he said.
Pointing to past negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, known as six-party talks, Saffari said the US broken promises have affected today's disagreements.
"The Americans did not live up to their pledges in the past. We are now seeing its results in the form of atomic tests by Pyongyang," he concluded.
The six-party talks were a series of multilateral negotiations held intermittently since 2003 and attended by China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States for the purpose of dismantling North Korea's nuclear program. The talks were hosted in Beijing and chaired by China.
North Korea pulled out of the six-party talks in 2009 after the UN Security Council condemned it for launching a long-range rocket. It said it did so because of the developing military relations between Seoul and Washington, which Pyongyang considers a threat.
