In a detailed article published on the website of the Iranian Foreign Ministry
on Wednesday, Zarif denounced Mike Pompeo’s May 21 anti-Iran remarks as the
culmination of a delusional US approach to the Middle East.
The following is the full text of his article:
In the Name of God, the Compassionate the Merciful
US Foreign Policy in Crisis
Javad Zarif
Following the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Accord, the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the third multilateral agreement that
the current United States administration has withdrawn from. The administration
has also put in jeopardy other multilateral arrangements such as NAFTA, the
global trade system, and parts of the United Nations system, thus inflicting
considerable damage to multilateralism, and the prospects for resolving disputes
through diplomacy.
The announcement on 8 May 2018 of the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA
and the unilateral and unlawful re-imposition of nuclear sanctions — a decision
opposed by majority of the American people — was the culmination of a series of
violations of the terms of the accord by this administration, in spite of the
fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency, as the sole competent
international authority had repeatedly verified Iran’s compliance with its
commitments under the accord. The US decision was rejected by the international
community and even its closest allies, including the European Union, Britain,
France and Germany.
On 21 May 2018, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a baseless and insulting
statement, issued a number of demands of and threats against Iran in brazen
contravention of international law, well-established international norms, and
civilized behavior. His statement reflected a desperate reaction by the US
administration to the overwhelming opposition of the international community to
the persistent efforts by the White House to kill the JCPOA, and the ensuing
Washington’s isolation. Mr. Pompeo, in his statement, attempted to justify the
US’ withdrawal from the JCPOA and divert international public opinion from the
unlawful behavior of the United States and its outright violation of UN Security
Council resolution 2231; a resolution drafted and proposed by the US itself and
adopted unanimously by the Council. Mr. Pompeo’s 12 preconditions for Iran to
follow are especially preposterous as the US administration itself is
increasingly isolated internationally due to its effort to undermine diplomacy
and multilateralism. It comes as no surprise that the statement and the one made
by the US president on Iran were either ignored or received negatively by the
international community, including by friends and allies of the United States.
Only a small handful of US client states in our region welcomed it.
I seriously doubt that had the US Secretary of State even had a slight knowledge
of Iran’s history and culture and the Iranian people’s struggle for independence
and freedom, and had he known that Iran’s political system—in contrast to those
of the American allies in the region—is based on a popular revolution and the
people’s will, would he have delivered such an outlandish statement. He should,
however, know that ending foreign intervention in Iran’s domestic affairs, which
culminated in the 25-year period following the US-orchestrated coup in 1953, had
always been one of the Iranian people’s main demands since well before the
Islamic Revolution. He should also be aware that in the past 40 years the
Iranian people have heroically resisted and foiled aggressions and pressures by
the US, including its coup attempts, military interventions, support of the
aggressor in an 8-year war, imposition of unilateral, extraterritorial and even
multilateral sanctions, and even going as far as shooting down an Iranian
passenger plane in the Persian Gulf in 1987. "Never forget” is our mantra, too.
The Islamic Republic of Iran derives its strength and stability from the brave
and peace-loving Iranian people; a people who, while seeking constructive
interaction with the world on the basis of mutual respect, are ready to resist
bullying and extortions and defend in unison their country’s independence and
honor. History bears testimony to the fact that those who staged aggression
against this age-old land, such as Saddam and his regime’s supporters, all met
an ignominious fate, while Iran has proudly and vibrantly continued its path
towards a better and brighter future.
It is regrettable that in the past one-and-a-half years, US foreign policy—if we
can call it that—including its policy towards Iran has been predicated on flawed
assumptions and illusions—if not actual delusions. The US President and his
Secretary of State have persistently made baseless and provocative allegations
against Iran that constitute blatant intervention in Iran’s domestic affairs,
unlawful threats against a UN Member State, and violations of the United States’
international obligations under the UN Charter, the 1955 Treaty, and the 1981
Algiers Accord. While rejecting these fictitious allegations, I would like to
draw the attention of US policymakers to some aspects of their nation’s current
foreign policy that are detrimental to the entire international community:
Impulsive and illogical decisions and behavior of the US President—and efforts
by his subordinates to find some justification to persuade a reluctant domestic
and foreign audience—have already surfaced as the main feature of the
decision-making process in Washington over the past 17 months. This process,
coupled with ill-conceived and hasty explanations to justify outcomes, usually
lead to contradictory statements and actions. As an example, in his role as CIA
Director, Mike Pompeo once in a Congressional hearing emphatically stated: "Iran
has not violated its commitments.” Later, and following the US President’s
decision to withdraw from the accord, now Secretary of State Pompeo in his
statement on May 21 emphatically stated that "Iran has violated its
commitments.”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that some aspects of US foreign policy
have been put up for auction—far beyond the routine lobbying practices. It is,
for instance, unprecedented that a US president should choose the very country
he had called "fanatic and a supporter of terrorism” during his election
campaign as the destination for his first foreign visit as president, or to
publicly make aspects of his foreign policy positions contingent on the purchase
by one or another country of arms and other data-x-items from the United States. It has
also been reported that in some other cases, mostly illegitimate financial
interests have been the main basis for the formulation of mind-bogglingly
ill-conceived US policy positions.
Contempt for international law and attempts to undermine the rule of law in
international relations have been among the main features of the current
administration’s foreign policy. To the extent, according to media reports, that
the US negotiators in the G7 Summit were even insisting on deleting the phrase
"our commitment to promote the rules-based international order.” This
destructive approach began by showing contempt for the fundamental principle of
pacta sunt servanda, which is arguably the oldest principle of international
law. The US withdrawal from some international agreements and undermining
others, coupled with efforts to weaken international organizations, are examples
of destructive moves so far by the US government, which have unfortunately
darkened the outlook for the international order. Obviously, the continuation of
such policies can endanger the stability of the international community, turning
the US into a rogue state and an international outlaw.
Predicating decisions on illusions is another aspect of this administration’s
foreign policy. This has been especially evident with respect to West Asia. The
illegal and provocative decision regarding al-Quds al-Sharif, blind support for
the cruel atrocities committed by the Zionist regime against Gazans, and aerial
and missile attacks against Syria are some of the more brazen aspects of such an
unprincipled foreign policy.
The statement made by Mr. Pompeo on May 21 was the culmination of a delusional
US approach to our region. Ironically, the US Secretary of State tried to set
preconditions for negotiations and agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran
at a time when the international community is doubtful about the possibility or
utility of negotiation or agreement with the US on any issue. How can the US
government expect to be viewed or treated as a reliable party to another round
of serious negotiations following its unilateral and unwarranted withdrawal from
an agreement which was the result of hundreds of hours of arduous bilateral and
multilateral negotiations, in which the highest ranking US foreign affairs
official participated, and which was submitted to the Security Council by the US
and adopted unanimously as an international commitment under Article 25 of the
Charter?
Recent statements and actions by the US president, including reneging on his
agreement with the G7 while in the air flying back from the summit, are other
examples of his erratic behavior. His remarks immediately following his meeting
with the leader of the DPRK regarding his possible change of mind in 6 months
are indicative of what the world is facing—an irrational and dangerous US
administration. Does the US Secretary of State really expect Iran to negotiate
with a government whose president says: "I may stand before you in six months
and say, ‘Hey, I was wrong. I don’t know if I’ll ever admit that, but I’ll find
some kind of an excuse”? Can such a government really set preconditions for
Iran? Isn’t it actually confusing the plaintiff for the defendant? Mr. Pompeo
has forgotten that it is the US government that needs to prove the credibility
of its words and legitimacy of its signature, and not the party that has
complied with its international obligations and sticks to its word. In fact, the
truth is that all US administrations in the past 70 years should be held
accountable for their disregard for international law, and their violations of
bilateral and multilateral agreements with Iran. A short list of the rightful
demands of the Iranian people from the US government could include the
following:
The US government must respect Iran’s independence and national sovereignty and
assure Iran that it will end its intervention in Iran’s domestic affairs in
accordance with international law in general, and the 1981 Algiers Accord in
particular.
The United States must abandon its policy of resorting to the threat or use of
force – which constitute a breach of the preemptory norms of international law
and principles of the Charter of the United Nations – as an option in the
conduct of its foreign affairs with or against the Islamic Republic of Iran and
other States.
The US government should respect the State immunity of the government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, which is a fundamental principle of international law,
and, while rescinding previous arbitrary and unlawful financial judgments, it
should refrain from executing them in the US and extra-territorially.
The US government should openly acknowledge its unwarranted and unlawful actions
against the people of Iran over the past decades, including inter alia the
following, take remedial measures to compensate the people of Iran for the
damages incurred, and provide verifiable assurances that it will cease and
desist from such illegal measures and refrain from ever repeating them:
its role in the 1953 coup that led to the overthrow of Iran’s lawful and
democratically-elected government and the subsequent 25 years of dictatorship in
Iran;
unlawful blocking, seizure and confiscation of tens of billions of dollars of
assets of the Iranian people after the Islamic revolution, or under various
baseless pretexts in recent years;
direct military aggression against Iran in April 1980, which was a blatant
violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran;
provision of massive military and intelligence assistance to the Iraqi dictator
during the 8-year war he imposed on the Iranian people inflicting hundreds of
billions of dollars of damages on Iran and its people;
responsibility in the enormous suffering that Iranians have incurred over the
past 3 decades as a result of the use by Saddam of chemical weapons, whose
ingredients were provided by the US and some other western countries;
the shooting down of an Iran Air passenger plane by the USS Vincennes in July
1988—a flagrant crime that led to the murder of 290 innocent passengers and
crew, and the subsequent awarding of a medal to the captain of the ship rather
than punishing him for his war crime;
repeated attacks against Iran’s oil platforms in the Persian Gulf in the spring
of 1988;
repeated and unwarranted insults against the Iranian people by calling the
entire nation "an outlaw and rogue nation” or "a terrorist nation” and by
including Iran in the so-called "axis of evil;”
unlawful and unreasonable establishment of a bigoted list of the nationals of
some Islamic countries, including Iranians, prohibiting their entry into the US.
The Iranians are among the most successful, educated and law-abiding immigrants
in the US and have done great service to American society. They are now
prohibited from seeing their loved ones, including even their aging
grandparents;
harboring and providing safe haven to anti-Iranian saboteurs in the USA, who
openly incite blind violence against Iranian civilians, and supporting criminal
gangs and militias and terrorist organizations, some of which were listed for
years as terrorist groups by the US and later removed from the list following
intense lobbying by those who have received money from them. Some of those
lobbyists now occupy high-ranking positions in the Trump administration;
support provided to Mossad for the multiple terrorist assassinations of Iranian
nuclear scientists;
sabotage of Iran’s nuclear peaceful program through cyber-attacks;
fabrication of fake documents to deceive the international community over Iran’s
peaceful nuclear program and to create an unnecessary crisis.
The United States government must cease its persistent economic aggression
against the Iranian people which has continued over the past four decades;
nullify the cruel and extensive primary and extraterritorial sanctions, rescind
hundreds of legislations and executive orders aimed at disrupting Iran’s normal
development which are in flagrant contravention of international law and have
been universally condemned, and compensate the Iranian people for the enormous
damages to the Iranian economy and its people.
The US government should immediately cease its violations and breaches of the
JCPOA, which have caused hundreds of billions of dollars in direct and indirect
damages for disrupting trade with and foreign investment in Iran, compensate
Iranian people for these damages and commit to implement unconditionally and
verifiably all of its obligations under the accord, and refrain (in accordance
with the JCPOA) from any policy or action to adversely affect the normalization
of trade and economic relations with Iran.
The US government should release all Iranians and non-Iranians who are detained
under cruel conditions in the US under fabricated charges related to the alleged
violation of sanctions, or apprehended in other countries following unlawful
pressure by the US government for extradition, and compensate for the damage
inflicted on them. These include pregnant women, the elderly and people
suffering from serious health problems; some of whom have even lost their lives
in prison.
The US government should acknowledge the consequences of its invasions and
interventions in the region, including in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf
region, and withdraw its forces from and stop interfering in the region.
The US government should cease policies and behavior that have led to the
creation of the vicious DAESH terrorist group and other extremist organizations,
and compel its regional allies to verifiably stop providing financial and
political support and armaments to extremist groups in West Asia and the world.
The US government should stop providing arms and military equipment to the
aggressors—who are murdering thousands of innocent Yemeni civilians and
destroying the country— and cease its participation in these attacks. It should
compel its allies to end their aggression against Yemen and compensate for the
enormous damage done to that country.
The US government should stop its unlimited and unconditional support for the
Zionist regime in line with its obligations under international law; condemn its
policy of apartheid and gross violations of human rights, and support the rights
of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and the
establishment of an independent Palestinian State with al-Quds al-Sharif as its
capital.
The US government should stop selling hundreds of billions of lethal—not
beautiful—military equipment every year to regions in crisis, especially West
Asia, and instead of turning these regions into powder kegs it should allow the
enormous amount of money spent on arms to serve as funding for development and
combating poverty. Only a fraction of the money paid by US arms customers could
alleviate hunger and abject poverty, provide for potable, clean water, and
combat diseases throughout the globe.
The US government should stop opposing the efforts by the international
community for the past 5 decades to establish a zone free from weapons of mass
destruction in the Middle East. It should compel the Zionist regime—with its
history of aggression and occupation—to de-nuclearize, thus neutralizing the
gravest real threat to regional and international peace and security, which
emanates from the most destructive arms in the hands of the most warmongering
regime in our time.
The US government should stop increasingly relying on nuclear weapons and the
doctrines of using nuclear weapons to counter conventional threats—a policy that
is in flagrant contravention of its commitment under Article VI of the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the advisory opinion of the International Court of
Justice, the 1995 NPT Review Conference Declaration, and UN Security Council
resolution 984. The US should comply with its moral, legal and security
obligations in the field of nuclear disarmament, which is a near unanimous
demand of all United Nations Member States, and virtually all people across the
globe, including even former US Secretaries of State. As the only State that is
stamped with the shame of ever using nuclear weapons itself, it is incumbent on
the US to relieve humanity from the nightmare of a global nuclear holocaust, and
give up on the illusion of security based on "mutually assured destruction”
(MAD).
The US government should once and for all commit itself to respect the principle
of pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be kept), which is the most fundamental
principle of international law and a foundation for civilized relations among
peoples, and discard in practice the dangerous doctrine which views
international law and international organizations as merely "a tool in the US
toolbox”.
The aforementioned US policies are examples of what has resulted in Iranians
distrusting the American government. They are also among underlying causes of
injustice, violence, terrorism, war and insecurity in West Asia. These policies
will bring about nothing but a heavy toll in human lives and material assets for
different regions of the world, and isolation for the US in world public
opinion. The only ones benefitting are and will be lethal arms manufacturers. If
the US government summons the courage to renounce these policies in words and
deeds, its global isolation will end and a new image of the US will emerge in
the world, including in Iran, paving the path to joint efforts for security,
stability, and inclusive sustainable development.
I admit that regrettably, it is not realistic to harbor a hope for such a change
in US behavior. Thus, at the global level the Islamic Republic of Iran has for
years promoted inclusion, multilateralism, dialogue, respect for the rule of law
and nuclear disarmament through initiatives such as Dialogue among Civilizations
and WAVE (World Against Violence and Extremism), and participated actively in
international efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament and a rule-based
international system. We have also presented practical proposals and engaged in
serious diplomatic efforts to end regional conflicts in Syria and Yemen through
diplomacy from the earliest stages of these unfortunate conflicts, sadly, to the
deaf ears of the United States that continues to support aggressors and
terrorists in every conflict in our region. And following the United States’
withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran has earnestly engaged with the remaining JCPOA
Participants (EU/E3+2) in a good faith effort to salvage this unique global
diplomatic achievement. We continue to do so as of this writing.
Nationally, Iran has ensured its security and stability in the past 4 decades on
the basis of its inherent domestic capabilities and its reliance on the great
Iranian people, not on any foreign power’s benevolence or patronage. Despite
foreign pressure and while expending comparatively the least amount in the
region on armaments, it has become stronger, more stable and more advanced by
the day.
And regionally, in contrast to the US and its foreign policy, Iran—in accordance
with its constitution—neither seeks to dominate nor will it ever submit to
domination. It believes that the era of regional and global hegemony has long
passed, and any effort by any power to achieve it is futile. Instead of yielding
to foreign domination or trying to dominate others, countries in our region
should seek to create a stronger, more prosperous and more stable region. We in
Iran view our security and stability as inseparable from those of our neighbors.
We have a common history and culture as well as indivisible opportunities and
challenges, and can only enjoy security and stability at home, if and only if
our neighbors enjoy internal and international stability and security. We expect
other regional countries to adopt a similar approach, and instead of insisting
on the failed experiment of "trying to purchase or outsource security,”
concentrate on dialogue, mutual understanding, confidence building, and
cooperation with neighbors.
The Islamic Republic of Iran views the establishment of a "Regional Dialogue
Forum” in the Persian Gulf as the best means to resolve regional crises and
create a stronger region. We can begin adopting confidence-building measures to
bring regional countries closer to each other on the basis of such principles as
the sovereign equality of states, non-resort to the threat or use of force,
peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for territorial integrity of other
States, inviolability of international boundaries, non-intervention in domestic
affairs of others, and respect for the right of peoples to self-determination.
By fostering common understanding about threats and opportunities at the
regional and global levels, we can move towards achieving a non-aggression pact
and creating common mechanisms for regional cooperation. We firmly believe that
we, regionally—as the inheritors of the richest civilizations the world has ever
known—should stand tall and can solve our own problems amongst ourselves and
secure a better future for all of our children without outside interference and
patronage, both of which come at a heavy cost to our collective dignity as well
as our future development.
Source: Tasnim