Continuing their competition with the US over intervention in Iraq, Iran’s officials have said that Washington’s coalition for action against the jihadist Islamic State is “irrational”.
Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani (pictured) said in a Saturday ceremony in northeast Iran, “The US logic for annihilating the Islamic State group will not result in reforms in the Middle-East and won’t destroy the Islamic State, rather it will cause an overwhelming fire of hatred in this region.”
Larijani asserted, “Certainly, the Islamic State won’t be annihilated by the US air attacks since bombardment cannot kill the guerillas in the houses.”
The Speaker also indicated Iran’s unease with possible US airstrikes on the jihadists in Syria, warning that the Americans were intervening because it had failed with previous “plots against the region through the UN and the Security Council”.
Iran’s top official for political maneuvers in Iraq, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani, echoed in a speech in Qom in central Iran:
The US attempts to create an anti-terrorism coalition in collaboration with certain states which are themselves the main suppliers of the terrorists are suspicious and lack transparency.
The US seeks to continue its unilateralism and violate the countries’ sovereignty under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
Shamkhani also referred to Syria, asserting that the US is trying to divert attention from “the establishment, equipment and development of…terrorist groups under the pretext of overthrowing the [Assad] government”.
Iran has attacked the US for weeks over intervention in Iraq, claiming the Americans created the Islamic State that they now purport to fight.
The latest Iranian statements follow US Secretary of State John Kerry’s rejection of Iranian participation in an international conference in Paris on Iraq and measures against the jihadists.
Changing its line on Sunday, Tehran declared it never wanted to go to the meeting. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abollahian said, “Presence in a symbolic and selective meeting on fight against terrorism in Paris is not on our agenda.”
Amir-Abdollahian maintained, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is the first country that rushed to help Iraq in the fight against terrorism. We will continue our strong support for Iraq and Syria in the fight against terrorism.”
Before Kerry’s rejection, Iranian media had hailed the possibility that France would invite Iran’s participation.
