The new American sanctions law, which targets Iran, Russia and North Korea, is noteworthy in that the US under Trump is a country notorious for contravening its commitments under international regulations and has laid bare its true colours to the world.
According to a Farsi report by the International Quran News Agency (IQNA), Trump and his political team have moved to slap sanctions on Iran’s defence arm, i.e. the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in order to contain Iran as a regional player and restrict its sphere of influence in countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. By leveling false accusations against Iran and making illegal demands which run counter to the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers (known as JCPOA), the White House behaves in such a way that it wants to create the impression that the IRGC and Iran’s military strategy as a whole are aggressive, so that it will be able to introduce Iran as a violator of international agreements.
US Afraid IRGC Becomes Role Model for Mideast’s Freedom-Seeking Nations
Ahmad Dastmalchian, Iran’s former ambassador to Jordan, had an interview with IQNA in which he expressed his views on Washington’s policies against the IRGC and Iran’s military forces.
“Today, the IRGC has turned into a deterrent power at the regional level and has managed to play a pivotal role in fighting the ISIS terrorist group until now. The IRGC is like a popular force and was the brainchild of [late Imam Khomeini,] the founding father of the Islamic Republic [of Iran]. They fear that the IRGC might export its ideology and turn into a role model for other regional countries.” said the former top Iranian diplomat.
“The model that the Islamic Republic of Iran has put into effect in the region today has directly harmed the interests of the US and its regional allies. And today, we are seeing that most groups fighting hegemony have modelled their resistance, objectives and planning after those of the IRGC, and the Lebanese Hezbollah is an example of that,” said Dastmalchian, who is an expert on international issues.
He also weighed in on what objectives Trump is pursuing by seeking to harness thee IRGC’s power.
“Tehran is right to be worried about the IRGC’s power. The reason is that the sinister American-Arab-Zionist triangle has paid dearly over the past years to undermine the resistance front, and has tried to restrict the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sphere of influence in the region. But today, this policy has been a nonstarter and turned out to be fiasco,” he noted.
IRGC, Big Hurdle to Politicians Seeking Disintegration in Mideast
He said since the Islamic Republic of Iran was established, the US spared no effort to contain it by such measures as imposing unfair sanctions and the imposition of the eight-year Iraqi war on Iran.
“Also, as regional nations have, in cooperation with Iran, managed to scuttle a major US-Israeli plan to disintegrate the region, they (Washington and Tel Aviv) have intensified their animosity toward the IRGC because it is a key obstacle to their politicking,” said the top former diplomat.
He also touched upon the meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
“In his meeting with al-Abadi, the Leader said ‘Today, regional countries have managed to defeat their enemies and they should undoubtedly have a major role in [determining] the future of the region and running it.’ The US and the Zionist regime [of Israel] were afraid of that situation, and that is why they have ratcheted up their rhetoric against the IRGC and keep finding pretexts to create the impression that the JCPOA is not being implemented properly,” he said.
Trump Helps Iran Introduce Washington’s Promise-Breaching Face
Dastmalichian said Trump clearly showed to the world that Washington does not live up to its commitments.
“By showing that the US does not make good on its promises, Trump proved something that we had made lots of effort for years to prove to world nations. However, Trump helped Iran prove this reality,” he said.
“Because of reneging on its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States can no longer form a new coalition against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we are even witnessing that Russia, China and even the European Union are no longer willing to contribute to Iranophobia policies in tandem with the US. Maybe Europe will, to some extent, get on board with the US in the future because of its economic interests, but so far, the US has faced its European allies’ red light.”
He noted that the JCPOA is a strong international agreement which can remain in effect even without the US.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has remained committed to all of the provisions of the deal, so it should be noted that imposing sanctions on the IRGC or launching propaganda against our defensive system, which has a deterrent role, is not justifiable at all,” he said.
“The US has sold the most advance weapons to Arab countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia, which is using them against defenceless people in Yemen, but the Islamic Republic of Iran has never used the IRGC to attack a state; rather, the IRGC has been at the forefront of the campaign against the most dangerous terrorist group in the world and has played the greatest part; therefore, Trump’s repeated threats against the IRGC are hollow and without international support and show Washington’s lack of proper understanding of Iran’s constituents of power,” the former top diplomat noted.
