‘US, key loser in Islamic Awakening’

A senior Iranian official says the US government has emerged as the “major loser” following the wave of Islamic awakening movements in the Middle East and North Africa and has consequently engaged in ploys to sow discord among Muslim nations.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Interprete in Rome, Iran’s Ambassador to Italy Seyyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini dismissed the recent US allegations of terrorism against Tehran, saying that Washington cannot achieve its goals through “divisive policies,” IRNA reported late Friday.

On Tuesday, the US Justice Department accused Iran of involvement in a plot to assassinate Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel Al-Jubeir with the assistance of a suspected member of a Mexican drug cartel.

Describing Washington’s anti-Iran accusations as a fabricated scenario, Hosseini pointed out that the US government is grappling, on the one hand, with a serious financial crisis and widening popular protests at home, and the key loser in the recent wave of Islamic awakening uprisings in the Middle East, on the other.

This is why the American statesmen have resorted to the “projection” of their failures and problems, the Iranian official further explained.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic has itself been a “victim of terrorism” sponsored by the US and the zionist regime (israel), and has always been in the forefront of the fight against terrorism.

Echoing recent remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who recently urged Saudi Arabia to exercise caution in reacting to US allegations, Hosseini expressed optimism that Iran’s ties with regional countries will continue to flurish on the basis of “good neighborly relations, mutual respect, and common interests.”

The Iranian ambassador to Rome also described Iran-Italy ties as shaped by “friendship” between the two nations, voicing optimism that such cordial relations will continue in the future.