IRGC is defender of the nation’s security, a deterrent force, not an aggressor like the Pentagon:US analyst

"Trump wants the nuclear deal amended to include Iran’s ballistic missile program and removal of sunset clauses. If not, "the deal will be terminated,” he said. He announced tough (illegal) sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), falsely accusing it of supporting terrorism,” Stephen Lendman, a journalist and political analyst based in Chicago in an interview with the Basirat Political Center.

Stephen Lendman is a writer, syndicated columnist, activist, News TV personality, and radio show host. He currently writes for MoneyNewsNow.com and VeteransToday.com and hosts, since 2007, a progressive radio show at The Progressive Radio News Hour on The Progressive Radio Network.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Basirat: Donald Trump in his speech on Friday refused to certify the 2015 nuclear deal. What is your opinion about it? Kindly explain.

Lendman: His address was deplorable. I think his worst ever, beginning-to-end disinformation and Big Lies. He disgraced himself more than already.

I doubt EU countries are pleased, but don’t think they’ll say much, mostly stressing the importance of preserving the nuclear deal. Most always they yield to America on big issues.

On Friday,Trump’s address on decertifying, not abandoning, the Iran nuclear deal was an exercise in serial lying. He lied saying his "new Iran strategy focuses on neutralizing the Government of Iran’s destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.” Please let me to give you some fact.

Fact: No Iranian destabilizing influence exists, no aggression, no support for terrorism.

Fact: America and its rogue allies are guilty of all the above high crimes, Trump, like his predecessors, an unindicted war criminal.

Trump said: "We will revitalize our traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balance of power in the region.”

Fact: No Iranian subversion exists. As long as US imperial wars of aggression rage, stability in the Middle East and elsewhere is unattainable.

Basirat: Trump described the IRGC as a "terror force” which has funded "war and terror abroad.” What is your thought?

Lendman: I don’t know if Trump will declare the IRGC a terrorist group. If so, it’s like declaring Iran a terrorist nation, though in his address he mostly said this, so it’s very possible he’ll falsely label the IRGC.

Trump said: "We will work to deny the Iranian regime - and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - funding for its malign activities, and oppose IRGC activities that extort the wealth of the Iranian people.”

Fact: No Iranian malign activities exist, no extortion of wealth from the Iranian people. It’s unclear how Trump intends denying the country funding.

It doesn’t use its resources to attack other countries, what America does all the time, the greatest menace to world peace, stability and security.

Trump said: "We will counter threats to the United States and our allies from ballistic missiles and other asymmetric weapons.”

Fact: Since WW II ended, America faced no threats from any countries anywhere - not Iran, Russia or any others.

Trump said: "We will rally the international community to condemn the IRGC’s gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of American citizens and other foreigners on specious charges.”

Fact: No gross IRGC violations of human rights exist. America is the world’s leading human rights abuser at home and abroad. No other nation matches its ruthlessness. Israel comes closest.

Fact: Iran detains no one on specious charges. America’s global gulag is filled with thousands of political prisoners, mostly people of color and Muslims.

Trump said: "Most importantly, we will deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon.”

Fact: Iran deplores nuclear weapons, wants the Middle East nuclear-free, Israel the only regional armed and dangerous nuclear power.

Fact: Iran threatens no other countries, hasn’t attacked any in centuries. America is permanently at war.

Fact: Iran doesn’t "undermine the international system” - by "force…subversion” or anything else, as Trump falsely claimed.

Basirat: Trump claimed Iran has caused instability in the region. Do you believe so?

Lendman: As I said most of his statements were false.

Fact: Iran’s leadership correctly calls America "the Great Satan.” Its outrageous record speaks for itself, humanity’s greatest scourge.

Fact: Iran doesn’t export violence, doesn’t destabilize its neighbors, and doesn’t sponsor terrorism anywhere.

Fact: America does all of the above everywhere.

Fact: Iranian elections aren’t "rigged.” They shame America’s money-controlled sham process, dirty business as usual winning every time.

Trump: "The reckless behavior of the Iranian regime, and the IRGC in particular, poses one of the most dangerous threats to the interests of the United States and to regional stability.”

False!!

Trump said: "The Iranian regime has taken advantage of regional conflicts and instability to aggressively expand its regional influence and threaten its neighbors with little domestic or international cost for its actions.”

False!!

Trump’s laundry list of other alleged Iranian "malign activities” turned truth on its head, his accusations a disgraceful perversion of reality, showing he’s a serial liar not worthy of trust.

His deplorable remarks were enough to make some despots blush - beginning-to-end disinformation and Big Lies, not a shred of truth.

Iran justifiably blasted his remarks. It vowed to retaliate against any actions targeting its Islamic Revolution Guard Corps - defender of the nation’s security, a deterrent force, not an aggressor like the Pentagon.

Basirat: What is your thought about future of JCPOA?

Lendman: Trump wants the nuclear deal amended to include Iran’s ballistic missile program and removal of sunset clauses. If not, "the deal will be terminated,” he said.

He announced tough (illegal) sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), falsely accusing it of supporting terrorism.

More congressional sanctions could follow decertification. Trump wants them tough enough to kill the deal. He’s unlikely to get what he wants.

Most congressional members likely want the agreement preserved. Ending it would make America more of a pariah state than already.

Thank you so much for your help and time.

INTERVIEW BY AMIR MOHAMMAD ESMAELI