Iran speaker says US ‘leaves no option but confrontation’

Iran’s influential parliament speaker hits out at Washington Wednesday, accusing it of disrupting implementation of last year’s landmark nuclear deal and failing in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Ali Larijani, a conservative who helped the nuclear deal pass in parliament last year, warns that Washington risks forcing Tehran into a path of renewed confrontation by putting obstacles in the way of its promised readmittance to the world economy.

“With great sadness, parliament… warns the US administration, House of Representatives and Senate that the efforts to undermine the nuclear agreement have reached a point that leaves no option for Iran but confrontation,” he says.

Larjiani says the West had failed to give Iran sufficient recognition for its contribution to the fight against IS and hit out at the United Nations for continuing sanctions against its foreign operations commander.

Larijani says Western governments should be “thankful to Iran and (its elite Revolutionary Guard foreign operations unit) the Quds Force who have helped Iraq against the bestial terrorists” of IS.

“You, who neither have the courage to confront Daesh (IS), nor know how to fight it, as they carry out bloody attacks in three European countries… how dare you call the admirable Quds Force’s fight a violation?” he asks.

— AFP