Iran’s Leader Best Expert on Issues Related to US: Analysts

Iran’s missile program, support for resistance groups, and many other excuses Washington uses to put Iran under pressure are all signs of West's non-commitment in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

This comes as Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei had referred to these excuses long ago. The predictions of the Leader, which had been made a long time ago, were realized in the recent statements of the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

Basirat news website has conducted a Farsi interview with two leading Iranian international affairs experts, Dr Mohammad Jamshidi and Dr Foad Izadi, both university professors.

Here is the full text of this interview:

Q: You know that after the nuclear deal, the United States has been violating it in different ways. This as Iran’s Leader had repeatedly touched upon Washington’s unreiability. In your opinion, how did Ayatollah Khamenei come to know the US adiminstration in such an exact way?

Jamshidi: This can be answered in two ways: First, the Leader has seen and experienced the US behaviour in different periods of time; whether in relations between Tehran and Washington, or during the war in Afghanistan, which followed the 9/11 attacks, and even during the negotiations on Iraq’s security, or after the nuclear talks where the US officials made some commitments. All these prove that the United States has a (pre-determined) pattern of behaviour. As Ayatollah Khamenei expressed, they consider themselves superior to others; therefore, they begin to ask for more after a round of negotiations. They do not make a deal to fulfil it. Their approach in negotiations is power-driven. In one step, they accept a series of issues and then start the next move. This was exactly their behaviour during the nuclear talks. The US practically wants to win more concessions, i.e. they are not pleased with what they have gained through the accord, and now they have actually started a new round of pressures.

Izadi: After the 1979 Revolution, Iran’s Leader has been studying the US policies. Due to his previous responsibilities, and the responsibilities he was shouldering in the past, and also during his current position as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, he has been in touch with issues related to the United States. If a person studies a subject for more than three decades, he will definitely gain a deep understanding of that. For that reason, if a person spends over thirty years on studying a matter, certainly he would become an expert in that field. I have mentioned it for several times that the Leader might be the best Iranian expert on the subject related to the United States. Given this background, he certainly has realized that the American side is not trustable.

Q: For how long and in which fields does the US intend to break promises? Why does Washington insist on such behaviour while knows that the Iranian people may get more pessimistic about the country?

Jamshidi: Americans have shown that they just want to exploit the Iranian people and use the Iranian society as a tool against Iran’s Establishment and government. To them, it is not important if you can provide their benefits even if their credibility is challenged. Because of this, they essentially do not change their own policies; the world’s public opinion and that of their own people is the same. They want to manage these opinions rather than developing their plans based on public opinion. The United States has a number of interests and their main plan is to restrict Iran in other areas and create strategic restrictions against Iran's power. Their main strategy is to impose sanctions and put economic pressure on the country. It should be determined what the main plan of Iran is in this regard. Especially, when we see that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is so important to them. Although they have focused on the JCPOA, their main target is not the nuclear deal; they want to restrict Iran’s regional power. They focus on the deal as a means to persuade the Islamic Republic to open negotiations on its missile program. Therefore, this is the main US strategy, and the other issues like public opinion are not that much important to them.

Izadi: The United States will implement what it pursues. The US (government) is the enemy of the Iranian people. The recent order by Donald Trump to limit the entering of Iranian nationals to the United States proves that he has problem with the Iranian people. You may have heard in the news that he also included Venezuela in the list, but the restriction was just for the Venezuelan officials, not its people. Thus, in contrast to their claims, the Iranian people are targeted and they (the Iranian people) would suffer the most severe blow. This is because they have realized that it was the people who led the Revolution in the country. So, they have an old-standing grudge againt the Iranian people. The United States has been and will be an enemy of the Islamic Republic for many years, and what is not logical is to trust your enemy. The other party is seeking to interact with you while it wants to beat you and justify its violations.