Iran FM Zarif: Trump regime flip-flops truly comical

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has hit out at recent remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who claimed that Tehran was not sufficiently supporting the Palestinians. 

“Trump regime flip-flops are truly comical. One week, its talking point is that we are “squandering” our resources abroad, the next week it’s that we’ve not financially supported the Palestinians enough,” Zarif tweeted on Saturday.

The remarks came after Pompeo alleged on Twitter that the Islamic Republic had poorly contributed to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for the Palestinian refugees.

Under the Trump administration, the US has started a review of the American aid to the Palestinians. Last Friday, it announced it would endall funding to the UNRWA.

Later, it ordered some $25 million to be redirected from Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry reacted by saying, “This dangerous and unjustified American escalation has crossed all red lines and is considered a direct aggression against the Palestinian people.”

Washington is reportedly holding up the aid to force the Palestinians to agree to the terms of a proposal it is yet to unveil concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“We were — the United States was paying them tremendous amounts of money,” Trump said during a conference call on Thursday. “And I’d say, you’ll get money, but we’re not paying you until we make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, we’re not paying,” he added.

Trump’s “deal of the century” reportedly gives the Palestinians limited sovereignty over about half of the occupied West Bank and set Abu Dis, east of the occupied holy city of al-Quds, as their capital. Palestinians have historically sought East Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of their future state.