Talks without missiles not an option for Iran. Illustrative official meeting. Photo Courtesy of UN Photo/Evan Schneider
The leader of Iran is willing to negotiate: just not with everyone, and not without continuing their controversial long-range missile tests. Ayatollah Khamenei, via his Twitter feed, went so far as to say that those who dismiss missiles could be traitors. Khamenei tweeted on Wednesday that those who say the new world is one of negotiations and not missiles, “if said unwarily, it’s unawareness; otherwise it’s treason.”
Khamenei went on to tweet that he does support talks, sometimes. “Islamic Republic must use all means. I support political talks in global issues, but not with everyone. Today is era of both missile & talk.” Iran has come under criticism from the US and elsewhere for conducting long-range missile tests in spite of UN resolutions addressing their aggressive activity. The US reiterated that while Iran has adhered to the letter of their nuclear agreement, the missile tests weren’t innocent.
“What we said was that they are certainly generic viagra in stores inconsistent with their obligations. And in fact, we agree with [US] Ambassador [to the UN Samantha] Power who said they were in defiance of the Security Council resolutions,” said spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday in comments published by the State Department.
“…We believe they are meeting their obligations under the [nuclear deal], but we are not turning a blind eye to the other things that they are doing which are destabilizing the region, which violate other sanctions and this and other resolutions.”
Based on Khamenei’s latest tweets, those destabilizing actions don’t look to be going away anytime soon. The Iranian Supreme Leader claimed that without weapons capable of striking back, they would be weak compared to anyone: “If Islamic System seeks technology and negotiations, but lacks defensive power, it should withdraw vis-à-vis any tiny country’s threats.”
That “defensive” language is common for Iran, who repeatedly characterizes their military actions as for self-defense, despite making repeated calls for Israel’s destruction and ongoing support for terrorism around the world.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, March 30, 2016)