Obama desperately tries to demonize Iranian nation

An analyst tells Press TV that a new Act devised to fight Iran’s influence in Latin America and signed by the US President Barack Obama is a part of a strategy aimed at dominating the Middle East for resources.

The USA has just passed into law the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act particularly aimed at countering Iran’s growing influence in South America. This law requires the USA State Department, within 180 days, to develop a strategy to “address Iran’s growing hostile presence and activity” in Latin America.

The legislation makes it clear that American policy is to counter Iran’s influence by requiring a coordinated and targeted strategy that uses all elements of national power through political and diplomatic means. It charges the USA government to detail the presence of Iran in the Western Hemisphere.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Gloria Ra Riva, a Latin America expert, from San Francisco, California, to further discuss the issue.

A rough transcription of the interview with Ra Riva follows.

Press TV: What exactly does the United States fear as far as Iranian influence in Latin America?

Ra Riva: The United States government with this new law, this so-called Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act is designed to frighten the American public as if Iran is a threat and encroaching on the borders of the United States which in fact what the US fears is the growing solidarity and cooperation of countries in Latin America with Iran, which we believe is a very important development to counter the US aggression in the Middle East.

And the new Act signed by Obama is a part of an overall strategy designed to isolate and demonize Iran and Iranian people in order to justify these horrific genocidal sanctions that are causing so much harm and damage to the country of Iran and also for the overall aim of dominating the Middle East for the resources, the oil, and geopolitical importance of the Middle East.

Press TV: Certainly Latin America has a lot of leaders which are outspokenly anti-US or at least anti-US-policies in the world.

Do you see any of them giving in?

Ra Riva: No, I think what is so encouraging about the ALBA, the Bolivarian alliance which involves Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, in alliance with other countries and Iran as an observer member, is that they have maintained a very strong and independent stands and shown the people of Latin America and countries around the world that the key to resisting the United States empire and its aims against other countries, independent countries, is to stay unified.

At the same time that we see US aggression and the financing of tens of millions of dollars, really hundreds of millions of dollars for destabilizing opposition, they are trying to destabilize Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and I do not believe this will have an effect because the people of those countries have seen so much progress by their unity.

And we hope that the American public does not fall prey to this new aggression against Iran. It is a very very serious time with what we see in the danger of war against Syria, already sanctions and the threats by Turkey.

The US talks about human rights as the reason why they are engaging in these aggressions but if they are really concerned about human rights, they would not have relations with the most reactionary Arab countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. This is not about human rights. US’ aim in the Middle East is domination.