Iran worried over US meddling in Tunisia

Tehran has expressed misgivings over Washington’s “interference” in the popular revolution in Tunisia that led to the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Citing remarks by the White House officials and a trip to Tunisia by a top US diplomat, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast voiced concern over what he described as Washington’s “meddling” in the popular movement in the North African country, according to a statement released by the ministry.

Mehmanparast urged the Tunisian people to remain vigilant and united, expressing hope that the demands of the Muslim Tunisian nation will be fulfilled with the establishment of a fair and democratic system in the country based on Tunisians’ “ideological beliefs and values.”

Political analysts believe the West supports a dictatorial regime in Tunisia instead of an Islamic government.

In an interview with Press TV, Sari Hanafi, the professor of sociology at the American University in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, said Western countries are standing by dictatorial regimes in Tunisia over concerns of Islamic rule in the North African country.

“The international community — the Western capitals — keeps saying that they prefer this dictatorial regime,” which was ousted after Ben Ali fled the country on January 14.

The concerns are growing as Sheikh Rashed Ghannouchi, the former opposition leader of Tunisia’s Islamic Party al-Nahada, is set to return to the country from London after 20 years in exile.