The foreign minister denounced recent comments by the US defense chief threatening that the military option against Iran is still on the table.
“While the world hails last week’s (nuclear) deal in Vienna as a victory of diplomacy over war and violence, unfortunately there are still those who talk of illegal and illegitimate application of force to meet their overambitious goals by insisting on preserving an option which has already proved inefficient,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told IRNA on Monday.
He was referring to US Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s remarks that the US administration reserves the right to use military force against Iran if necessary although the nuclear deal is intended to preclude that by resolving the issue diplomatically.
Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China) on Tehran’s nuclear work culminated in a historic deal on Tuesday in the Austrian capital.
“Our ability to carry out that strategy is unchanged,” Carter was quoted by the Associated Press as telling reporters aboard his plane en route to Tel Aviv on Sunday, stressing that the nuclear accord imposes no limits on what Washington can do to ensure the security of Israel and US Arab allies.
Those who insist on military action despite the Vienna deal “seem to have failed to realize that using force to violate others’ rights is not an option but a dangerous temptation and unwise (approach),” Zarif said.
They lack the required “ability and capacity” to advance diplomacy, the top diplomat added.
Carter was scheduled to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Monday and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday before traveling to Saudi Arabia and Jordan to consult on the implications of the Iran deal and to assess progress in the regional campaign against the Islamic State group.
“This is a good deal,” the US senior military official said in a reference to the nuclear agreement. “It removes a critical element of danger, threat and uncertainty from the region,” and does so in a way that can be verified not only by the US but by the international community.
“One of the reasons this deal is a good one is that it does nothing to prevent the military option — the US military option, which I’m responsible for” and which will be improved and preserved, he added.
