Imam Ali KhameneiIranLeaders of UmmahNorth America

Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed Khamaneiright to blame West for terrorism: Analyst

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Press TV has conducted an interview with James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst from Washington, to get his take on Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s letter addressing the Western youth.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: I guess you’ve read the message to the Western youth, what did you think about the Iranian Leader’s message, James?

Jatras: Well, there’s certainly a lot to agree with in there, in the sense that Western powers have supported the worst elements of Sunni jihad terror not only in Syria and Libya, but before that in Bosnia, in Kosovo and of course they started with the war in support of the Mujahedeen (combatants) in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union.

And let’s keep in mind that he has corrected the statement that this is fomented primarily by the most backward political systems, clearly we have in mind, Saudi Arabia and the [Persian] Gulf states monarchies which are anything but democracies, and certainly do not respect human rights although democracy and human rights are buzzwords of the Western governments as they insist on overturning legitimate governments in various parts of the world.

Press TV: You’re talking about double standard here, James, when it comes to Western world powers, when it comes to these states – these allies – if they’re suppressing their people if the human rights record is at its slowest, we don’t hear anything. We see them being funded and being supported but when it comes to other democracies in the world, when it’s about non-allies, the attitude is completely different.

Jatras: That’s correct and in fact I don’t think democracy has anything to do with one word or the other. The least Western position and the American position is essentially if you were aligned with us geopolitically, … and essentially we’ve somebody like Saudi Arabia, it spends a lot of money in Washington and buys a lot weapons from us.

If you want to destroy Yemen that’s fine with us. If you want to send troops into Bahrain to suppress the “democratic Arab Spring” that we’ve hailed in other countries, I guess, that’s fine with us too.

Press TV: What do you think about the Islamic Leader’s message regarding the creation of ISIL and how that came into being? The Leader says that “It’s the Western colonialist attitude which has led to the rise and creation of ISIL.”

Jatras: I’m not sure what the context is for the use of the term colonial which of course was the movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Certainly, there are gross interference in the affairs of other countries and of course it’s quite correct.

There would be no Daesh, there would be no al-Nusra Front and these other terrorist groups in Syria, if not for the support of Western powers, of course our regional allies, Turkey especially and Saudi Arabia and Qatar, if not for this, yes, those groups would not exist.

Press TV: How do you think this message is being reflected upon in the Western world?

Jatras: I don’t know to what extent it will be. The statements of Iranian government figures are not well reported in the American media. I would assume that most of the people to whom this is targeted may not hear about it at all.

And I think they will go through the ones who do hear about it and perhaps agree with some parts of it and not agree with other parts. It’s hard to say.

Press TV: Let’s talk about Palestine. The Leader says that it’s been 60 years that Palestinians have been suffering and there’s been silence on behalf of the international community and the Western world.

Jatras: Well, I don’t know. It’s fair to say there has been silence. As you know the United States has advocated a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel for some time.

And it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere if anything, any prospect for settlements seems to be further away and let’s be honest there are many places in the world that have been interacted with problems like Cyprus and Kashmir and so forth that may not have solutions. We Americans like to think that all problems have solutions and sometimes they don’t.

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