TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Tehran’s Ambassador to Damascus Mohammad Hassan Akhtari said that the United States cannot tolerate Iran because the Islamic Republic is now growing into a powerful and influential actor not only at regional but also at world level.
Responding to an FNA question about the underlying cause of the United States’ psychological war on Iran and Syria in the region, the 61-year-old Akhtari said, “The United States’ main problem is that it cannot tolerate any powerful actor standing up to it.”
“Americans imagined they could live happily ever after the decomposition of the former eastern block and the subsequent end of the cold war and no one would ever stand up to them,” he said, adding, “But in the meantime they were witnessing the fast growth of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and as they couldn’t tolerate it, they started thinking of ways to confront this movement.”
“They first thought of a plan according to which they could forge a false image of Islam to destroy its real picture, and in the meantime, they took different measures against Iran, including their extensive supports for Saddam during Iraq’s 8-year long war imposed on Iran,” the envoy added.
“Americans even strove to make the Islamic Republic void of its religious and independent nature, but all their efforts ended in failure.
“Then the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic sparked a movement which could foil the humiliating peace that the Americans and Israelis tried to impose on the region.
“Americans have so far moved heaven and earth to defeat the Islamic Republic, but all their attempts have just turned into a scandal. They have done a lot to provoke the world’s animosity towards Iran, but they failed in doing so once again, as the Islamic Republic of Iran has succeeded in making giant scientific and industrial progresses and it is the most advanced country in the region both scientifically and politically as it enjoys a democratic ruling system.
“Now Americans and their allies are truly fearful of Iran because the latter is now recognized as an advanced country in many scientific fields, and this fear grew deeper when the Islamic Republic harnessed nuclear energy and made giant nuclear advancements,” the veteran diplomat pointed out.
The envoy said that Americans cannot tolerate a strong, independent and powerful Iran, specially considering that Iran has many proponents in the world and is now recognized as a new power at the world level.
He also reminded that Americans have now resorted to a plot which has long been used by the British, and that is none but sowing discord among Muslim Shiites and Sunnites to divide them and to discredit the Shiite Iran.
The Iranian ambassador to Syria further called on all Muslims to practice vigilance to defuse such a plot.
Also asked about a likely visit to Tehran by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, he expressed the hope that the trip would be taken within the next two or three months and said that it is aimed at discussing bilateral ties.
Meantime, the envoy reminded that Bush is not seeking to restore calm in the region since once such a thing happens, the US troops would lose the raison detre for their presence in the region and would have to leave the region.
“Thus, Bush and his allies are in favor of further unrests, turmoil and crises so that they can justify deployment of their troops in the region,” he concluded.