West says one thing, does another in terror fight: Iran’s Rafsanjani

The chairman of Iran’s Expediency Council says the West’s rhetoric contradicts its action when it comes to the fight against terrorism.

Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani made the remarks in a Saturday meeting with visiting former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon in the capital, Tehran.

This contradiction, he said, “has complicated the real fight against terrorism and its roots.”

Citing a case in point, he referred to Israel’s bloody aggression against Lebanon in the past and its ongoing deadly violations across the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. “Unfortunately, Western countries are indifferent to these violations and killings,” he said.

The senior Iranian cleric also called attention to the fact that the United States invaded Afghanistan back in 2001 under the pretext of providing security and eradicating the drugs industry rampant there. “Today, after years of US presence in the country, we witness that not only has not the situation improved, but also security has worsened and [the volume] of drugs [production there] has increased tenfold.”

He said, “The root of terror generation must be dried out and this requires a fundamental, long, and relatively costly project.”

Ayatollah Rafsanjani also said Iran wants a Middle East that is “healthy, free, and calm” and “we are prepared to cooperate with all countries, including France, down this path.”

Fillon, likewise, said differences of opinion among the world’s major countries should not preclude their cooperation in managing unrest in volatile countries.

He also said he was trying to have Europe and France adopt a new perspective of Iran, noting, “Iran is a great and old country, the likes of which are very few in the Middle East. Iran has a very great role in resolving the region’s problems.”