The main reason behind the West's hostility toward Iran is not its nuclear program but rather its support for the Palestinians, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Thursday.
Larijani, who was secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and chief nuclear negotiator between 2005 and 2007, recalled that western officials had once acknowledged during talks that the main sticking point was Tehran’s stance on the Palestinian issue.
"The negotiating side had said the major issue is the Islamic Republic's defense of Palestine, which prevents the United States from moving ahead with its plans in the region. They admitted it openly," he told a ceremony in the city of Pishva in south Tehran, ICANA reported.
Pretext
The lawmaker noted that western countries are well aware that Iran is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
They are using the nuclear issue as a pretext to exert pressure on the country, Larijani said, adding that their key demand is Iran change its regional policies.
The US had agreed to the 2015 nuclear deal—which removed sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program—but President Donald Trump started to move the goalpost when he took office and finally pulled out of the agreement last month, the Majlis speaker added.
Trump announced on May 8 that he was pulling out of the international deal and would reimpose sanctions against Tehran.
He complained that the accord, the signature foreign policy achievement of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, did not address Iran's ballistic missile program or its role in regional developments.
Hidden Agenda
Larijani said Trump's remarks reveal US’ hidden agenda because the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose inspectors are tasked with monitoring compliance with the deal, has time and again declared that Iran is adhering to it. "Their main problem is something else."
The Americans want to fan the flames of chaos and undermine peace and stability in the strategic region, the senior lawmaker noted. "Fortunately, the political shrewdness of Iranian leaders has helped foil their plots."
He also took a jab at Persian Gulf Arab states who have allowed the US to humiliate them. "We should compare our country with other regional states who are very rich but do not have the courage to stand up against the US to the extent that Trump audaciously demans money from them."
He was referring to Trump's remarks in April in which he criticized US western allies in the Middle East, saying that they would crumble within "a week" without the United States and so should pay for American protection and deploy their own troops in war-torn Syria.
