Alwaght- The Iranian Foreign Minister Mohmmad Javad Zarif has accused US allies in West Asia of sponsoring Takfiri terrorist groups.
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Zarif said US President Donald Trump’s stance towards Iran, which includes accusations of Tehran sponsoring terrorism, represented a “misplaced and misguided policy."
"We know where the terrorists are coming from. We know those who attacked the World Trade Center were citizens of which countries in the region – I can tell you none of them came from Iran,” Zarif said.
The FM added, “None of the people who engaged in acts of terrorism since 2001 came from Iran,” pointing out that “most of them came from US allies."
Out of the 19 terrorists who hijacked planes on September 11, 2001, fifteen were Saudi Arabian citizens, two were from UEA, one was Egyptian, and one was a Lebanese.
"Look at ISIS, look at Nusra [Al-Nusra Front terrorist group], look at Al-Qaeda, look at other terrorist organizations… none of them have anything to do with Iran and all of them receive not only their ideology but their financial assistance, their weapons, their arms from others who call themselves US allies,” Zarif said.
During his landmark visit to Saudi Arabia this May, the US president said “until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran.".
Zarif said, “I believe the ideology that is being spread unfortunately by our neighbors in Saudi Arabia throughout the world is responsible for hatred, for extremism, and fanaticism that is bringing … people who have nothing to do with Islam into our region and even beyond our region".
US violating nuclear deal
Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif said the Islamic Republic has been abiding by its commitments under the historic nuclear deal with the world powers, but the US has been violating the agreement.
Zarif said according to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the IAEA is the “only accepted body to monitor the implementation of the nuclear side of the deal,” adding that the nuclear agency had repeatedly confirmed Iran’s commitment to the deal.
"The IAEA has verified, I believe, seven times now since the Implementation Day that Iran has implemented the deal faithfully, fully and completely,” Zarif said.
The Iranian foreign minister added “The United States has failed to implement its part of the bargain".
When asked to specify an instance of US non-compliance with the deal, Zarif said, “For instance, when the White House made an announcement that President Trump used his presence in Hamburg during the G20 meeting in order to dissuade leaders from other countries from engaging in business with Iran, that is a violation of not [only] the spirit, [but also] of the letter of the JCPOA."
"I believe the United States needs to bring itself into compliance with its part of the obligations under the deal,” he said.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
Under the agreement, limits were put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic.
Iran opposes WMDs
Referring to accusations leveled against Iran's nuclear program, Zarif said, “I think people want to basically engage in scaremongering. Iran has a very clear track record. Iran was a victim of chemical weapons. Iran never used chemical weapons. Iran has had the capability, but decided not to go in the direction of producing weapons of mass destruction, because we believe that not only they are against our ideology, but also they do not augment our security. We believe that nuclear weapons would be a threat to our security rather than an asset for our security."
