Iranian FM slams US, Western states over policies targeting Iran’s stability

Amir-Abdollahian made the remark while addressing the third Tehran Dialogue Forum, dubbed TDF 2022, in the Iranian capital on Monday, which was attended by scores of scholars from 36 countries at the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Political and International Studies.

“Irresponsible and arbitrary positions and interventions of the United States and some [other] Western countries ... which were aimed at inciting riots in Iran through political means as well as cognitive, media and hybrid forms of warfare represented their maximum effort to destabilize the country,” Iran’s top diplomat said.

He added that Western countries’ intervention in Iran’s affairs comes despite the fact that they themselves are embroiled in all kinds of domestic protests and their police forces use the most violent methods in responding to those protests.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has warned meddlesome parties against any intervention in its domestic affairs and is carefully observing such illegitimate interventions and will give a strong response to them,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

Iran’s foreign minister added, “Those countries that host terrorists or encourage economic and media terrorism and foment violence must be aware that terrorism and insecurity are global phenomenons. You cannot live in a glass house and throw stones without being hurt.”

Emphasizing that the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on people’s will, Amir-Abdollahian said the peaceful demands of people and internal developments of the country should not be exploited by others as a means of settling political scores.

Protests broke out in several Iranian cities after the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died at hospital three days after she collapsed at a police station in Tehran. An investigation attributed her death to her medical condition, dismissing allegations that she had been beaten by police forces.

Despite Iranian officials’ clarification on the circumstances surrounding her death, violent street protests ensued, culminating in attacks on security officers and acts of vandalism against public property and sanctities.

The Islamic Republic has strongly censured certain countries, topped by the United States and its Western allies, for provoking the riots through their spy agencies and propaganda apparatuses. London, in particular, hosts several anti-Iran networks, including Iran International, Manoto, and BBC Persian.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the top Iranian diplomat slammed the US hypocrisy with regard to the negotiations held to revive the 2015 nuclear accord -- formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- which was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump in 2018.

He said, “On the one hand, the United States talks about the nuclear negotiations and [the need for] taking the final steps to achieve an agreement [on reviving the deal], while on the other hand, it supports insecurity and instability in Iran.”

“This hypocritical policy must end. If this is done and the United States takes realistic and practical steps to reach an agreement and return to its obligations as per the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic of Iran will also be ready to take the final steps toward an agreement for the removal of sanctions [imposed on the country] and return of all parties to their obligations,” he added.

The talks to salvage the JCPOA kicked off in the Austrian capital of Vienna in April last year with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.

The talks remain stalled since August, while Washington has continued to insist on its hard-nosed position of not removing all sanctions slapped on the Islamic Republic by the previous US administration.

Earlier this month, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran would only accept a “sustainable agreement” that would secure its red lines in the course of the JCPOA revival talks.

Amir-Abdollahian also pointed to Iran's stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine, which he said has not changed since the outbreak of the crisis.

"Our principled policy has been based on rejection of … the use of force and emphasis on the settlement of the conflict through political channels. Since the outbreak of this crisis, we have adopted a position of active neutrality and emphasized that the legitimate security concerns of the two sides [to the conflict] must be taken into account," the Iranian foreign minister said.

He once again rejected the baseless allegations that Iran has supplied one of the parties involved in the Ukraine war with weapons and drones, stressing that the propaganda regarding the use of Iranian drones in the war has no objective but to cover up the West's bids to fan the flames of war and violence in Ukraine.

Such claims are made against Iran under the circumstances that billions of dollars of different types of weapons from Western countries have been sent to Ukraine to prolong the war, the top Iranian diplomat pointed out.

Both Iran and Russia have repeatedly denied claims that Tehran has provided Moscow with drones to be used in the Ukraine war.

The anti-Iran claims first emerged in July, with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan alleging that Washington had received “information” indicating that the Islamic Republic was preparing to provide Russia with “up to several hundred drones, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline” for use in the war.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Tuesday that Ukrainian officials have failed to provide any evidence for their claim that Russia is using Iranian drones in its war on Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian side did not present any evidence of Russia’s use of Iranian drones in the war with this country at the technical meeting,” Iran's defense chief said.

The Iranian minister further said 20 years of foreign military presence by occupiers in Afghanistan has failed to bring security and welfare to the people of the country who are in completely unsuitable and worrisome conditions.

He added, "The US has left Afghanistan but it is seeking to perpetuate its presence in the country and create challenges for the regional countries through its instrumental use of terrorist groups."