Iran: Trump’s anti-Tehran remarks outdated propaganda

Iran has slammed US President Donald Trump’s recent anti-Tehran remarks as “outdated” propaganda.

“The US policy of [spreading] Iranophobia and the repetition of outdated claims have failed and proved ineffective,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday.   

Speaking in Jerusalem al-Quds on Monday, Trump accused Iran of backing terrorism, and pledged Washington’s commitment to deter Tehran from acquiring any nuclear arms.

Qassemi dismissed Trump’s remarks as “repetitious and delusional.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never been pursuing nuclear weapons,” he said, stressing that relevant international bodies have on numerous occasions verified the country’s commitment to its nuclear obligations.

Qassemi also rejected as “baseless” US allegations that Iran supports terrorism, saying Tehran is well-known for its forceful and indefatigable fight against terrorism.

US must come clean about policies in Mideast 

Separately, Qassemi said the US needed to put an end to its policy of double standards in the Middle East region, including its support for non-democratic regimes like the one in Bahrain.

“It is not possible to speak of development, freedom and human rights, on the one hand, and to support certain governments that are bereft of popular support and seek to rule over people or further advance their agendas in the region through purchasing weapons… on the other hand,” Qassemi said in an interview with IRIB on Wednesday.

He said the US was sending mixed signals with respect to the developments in Bahrain.

Qassemi made the remarks in response to a question about Washington’s role in the recent developments in Bahrain.

He added that the US was responsible for future regional developments, citing Washington’s support for terrorist groups and its arms sales to certain countries of the region.

Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday on his first overseas trip since taking office to shore up bilateral ties. On the first day of his trip, the United States sealed a nearly $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

In Riyadh, Trump also had a meeting with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah, during which he said he would work to improve relations between the two countries.

Trump’s administration has decided this year to pursue a $5 billion sale of 19 Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft and related equipment to Bahrain.

Days after Trump praised US ties with Bahrain and vowed to mend the two countries’ relations, Manama launched a violent raid that led to the deaths of at least five protesters and wounding of dozens more. Some 286 protesters were also arrested in the ensuing clashes when Bahraini regime forces broke into the residence of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim in the village of Diraz on Tuesday.

Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s dissolved opposition bloc, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, is under house arrest. He was stripped of his citizenship in June 2016.

The Iranian official denounced the raid as “unacceptable” and warned that resorting to violence, suppression and security measures would fail to end tensions in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Qassemi also called on Manama to take heed of popular demands and launch a dialog to solve the country’s problems without recourse to foreign interference.

The raid comes as the Manama regime, with the help of the Saudi and Emirati armies, has been pressing ahead with a heavy-handed crackdown against the country’s activists and opposition figures since February 2011.