Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman has taken a swipe at US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for using a fabricated name to refer to the Persian Gulf.
Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Bahram Qassemi said all US statesmen know what the real name of the Persian Gulf is.
“Tillerson has a background in the field of oil [business], and given the background that American politicians have, the name ‘Persian Gulf’ is known to all of them,” Qassemi said.
“Tillerson probably doesn’t know [the real name of this body of water], and the worst-case scenario would be that he doesn’t know history. I recommend they study history in addition to their oil background, and take a look at the documents and archived papers available at the US State Department, Congress, and European national archives. It wouldn’t be difficult to review history,” the spokesman said.
Qassemi underlined that one cannot buy history, civilization and culture with the greenback, nor is it possible to strip a nation of its culture or provide it with culture by spending dollars.
“I hope in the future they will be careful enough when they use this name, and they should know that this name is sensitive and holy for the Iranian nation,” Qassemi added.
New US Sanctions against Iran Show Lack of Goodwill
Elsewhere in his remarks, the spokesman touched upon Washington’s plan to ratchet up its sanctions against Iran.
He said most policies on sanctions have failed and, hence, are a nonstarter, urging US statesmen not to go for a failed experience again.
“We should wait and see what happens. If the plan receives the nod from the Foreign Relations Committee, it will then be discussed at an open session [of Congress] before going to the president,” he said.
Of course, on numerous occasions, plans have failed to win approval in the middle, he said.
Qassemi said the plan shows a lack of goodwill on the part of Washington, and called on the US not to move forward on that path.
“We urge the US government not to make a mistake again and not go the wrong way,” he stressed.
“At the JCPOA committee, we are monitoring these moves and follow them up and we will take action at any point in time we deem necessary,” Qassemi noted.
“This trend will only create problems and hassles for the US itself,” he said.
US Not Honest in Fight against Terrorists in Mideast
Qassemi further touched upon a recent attack by US-backed militants on the Syrian army and resistance forces.
“America’s actions in Syria are suspicious and unjustifiable,” he said.
“They have said repeatedly that they are fighting terrorists, […] but we haven’t seen honesty and necessary measures from them,” he said.
He then urged the US to battle ISIS terrorists to help boost stability and security in Syria.
“They should act more responsibly, but, unfortunately, so far they haven’t done so,” he said.
