Iranian Speaker Blasts US Hypocritical Policy

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani rapped Washington for its hypocritical policy on Tehran, and said the American officials have resorted to different options against the Iranians to display that their foreign policy had eventually managed to gain success in the confrontation against Iran.

“Today, the westerners are attempting to show sanctions as the reason for (what they call) Iran’s changed path,” Larijani said, addressing the lawmakers at an open session of the parliament in Tehran on Sunday.

He referred to the US-led West’s efforts to prevent Iran’s progress in the field of civilian nuclear technology by the help of military pressures and sanctions, and said, “Yet, this scenario yielded them no result.”

Larijani noted that the recent hostile remarks by the US officials indicate that Washington is strongly eager to ink an agreement with Iran to display that its foreign policy has eventually been able to gain an achievement in the confrontation against Iran and justify their wrong sanctions policy in the past.

“They spoke of Iran’s isolation one day and today they say that a little change has been made in Iran’s economy with their assistance,” he added.

On November 24, Iran and the world powers sealed a six-month Joint Plan of Action to lay the groundwork for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program. In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the Sextet of world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran and continue talks with the country to settle all problems between the two sides.

After Iran and the world powers struck a deal in November, the US Treasury Department imposed fresh sanctions against companies and individuals for their business links with Iran.

The US Treasury Department said the targeted entities operated in Turkey, Spain, Germany, Georgia, Afghanistan, Iran, Liechtenstein and the United Arab Emirates.

Also, Washington officials have been making increasing provocative remarks against Iran and the deal since November. US Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview in Geneva in January that the military option was still on the table if Iran did not live up to its nuclear commitments under the Geneva deal.

In response, a large number of Iranian officials have warned of the dire repercussions of such remarks by Washington officials. Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami warned that the slightest military move by the US will be reciprocated by Iran’s harshest response, underlining that Iran’s reaction would “recognize no boundary”.