Iran ‘at forefront’ of fight against extremism, Zarif claims in video clip

Two weeks after the US State Department reported that Iran’s support for terrorism is undiminished, and as diplomats work to seal a nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday shared a video touting Iran’s fight against Islamic radicals.

In the video posted to YouTube, Zarif argued that Islamist extremism poses a far greater threat to global security than a nuclear armed Iran. He emphasized the need for the West and Iran to “open new horizons to address important, common challenges,” namely the “growing menace of violent extremism and outright barbarism.”

While he mentioned neither the Islamic State nor the United States by name, Zarif said the menace threatening Iran and the rest of the world alike was “embodied by the hooded men who are ravaging the cradle of civilization.”

“Iran has long been at the forefront in the fight against extremism,” he claimed. “I hope my counterparts will also turn their focus, and devote their resources, to this existential battle,” he said.

Zarif’s remarks came on the heels of a US State Department report on terror activity released last month which noted Iran’s “state sponsorship of terrorism worldwide remained undiminished.”

The 388-page report, which warns that terror attacks worldwide rose 35% from 2013 to 2014, describes Iran’s attempts to spread its influence across the globe, using the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force as the “primary mechanism” for accessing terror groups throughout the Middle East, and with ties as far as South America.

“While its main effort focused on supporting goals in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, Iran and its proxies also continued subtle efforts at growing influence elsewhere including in Africa, Asia, and, to a lesser extent, Latin America,” the report warned.

While nuclear negotiations remain deadlocked, Zarif said that Iran and world powers “have never been closer to a lasting outcome” in the negotiations to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, which Iran insists is for peaceful purposes only. “But there is no guarantee,” he added.

“Getting to ‘yes’ requires the courage to compromise, the self-confidence to be flexible, the maturity to be reasonable, the wisdom to set aside illusions, and the audacity to break old habits,” Zarif said. He called for an end to “coercion and pressure” through economic sanctions.

Any nuclear deal with Iran would result in an end to the sanctions, but negotiations remain bogged down ahead of the extended July 7 target date for an agreement.

The West fears Iran could develop its nuclear program to make weapons while Iran insists it is only meant to generate power and for other peaceful uses. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned relentlessly that the emerging deal will actually pave Iran’s path to the bomb by leaving many of its nuclear facilities intact and failing to adequately freeze or inspect ongoing activity.