Zarif: US Occupation of Iraq, Root Cause of Terrorism in ME

TEHRAN-Iran’s Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif has stressed that the terrorism which is now hitting Syria and Iraq and spreading in the region and the world is caused by the US occupation of Iraq.

 Zarif was commenting on remarks made by the US Secretary of State John Kerry in which he alleged that “Tehran is destabilizing the Middle East”.

 “The risk of terrorism and extremism, which is the main danager threatening the region, is the result of the United States of America’s occupation of Iraq and is a risk that we had predicted before the US attack on Iraq and had officially announced that the occupation of Iraq would lead to extremism and terrorism in the region,” Zarif said in joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart Marina Kaljurand in Tehran on Sunday, according to Press TV.

He warned that the threat of terrorist and extremist groups such as Daesh is spreading in the region by those who only think about their short-term interests and are not concerned about their own long-term security.

Instead of making unfounded accusations against Iran, the US is needed to adopt a more serious approach to regional issues, he said.

The US secretary of state on Thursday accused Iran of conducting “destabilizing actions” in the Middle East.

On Iran’s Missile capability, Zarif said the Islamic Republic’s missile capability was not open to any form of negotiations or compromise.

 “The US Secretary of State John Kerry knows well that Iran’s missile capabilities are not open to negotiations,” he stressed.

“If the US administration is really serious about defense issues, it should decrease the sale of weapons, which are killing innocent Yemeni people every day, and should stop the sale of weapons which, as admitted by the Zionist regime, are used to attack civilians,” Zarif said.

H.M