US, allies to blame for terror spread in ME: Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has blamed the United States and its allies in the Middle East for the spread of extremism and terrorism in the region.

The tactless policies and measures of the US and its allies, particularly Israel, have brought nothing but war, destruction and extremism for the Middle East and around the world, Iran’s Foreign Ministry website quoted Zarif as saying on Thursday.

Iran’s top diplomat stressed that Tehran’s foreign policy is consistent, noting that the Islamic Republic has always sought to establish friendly ties with its neighbors and counter the mutual threats in the region, including foreign aggression, extremism, terrorism and sectarianism.

His comments follow US President Barack Obama’s latest remarks against the Islamic Republic, which Zarif described as the ones meant to please Israel as well as critics inside the US.

 

The foreign minister’s reaction came after a Wednesday speech by Obama in which the US president accused Iran of supporting terrorism, saying Washington has many differences with Tehran despite the recent nuclear agreement.

Zarif also touched upon the recent nuclear conclusion between Iran and P5+1 over Tehran’s nuclear program, saying that the agreement has dismantled the basis of the “Iranophobic plot.”

Those who still pursue the Iranophobia plot are only trying to make profits by selling lethal weaponry and do not care about wasting the region and the world’s limited resources, he went on to say.

Zarif further warned the US that the civilized world has set aside the use of threat in foreign policy, noting that such a tactic is both illegal and inefficient.

The wars waged by the US over the past 50 years have only inflicted severe loss upon the American people and brought about insecurity and instability for the whole world, he stressed.

The Iranian foreign minister also called on the US government to seize the opportunity and win the trust of the Iranian nation following the July 14 nuclear conclusion, saying this can only be realized if American authorities change their “wrong policies.”