US Suffering from Strategic Confusion: Iranian Cleric
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tehran's Provisional Friday Prayers Leader Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari slammed the US administration over its recent move to impose sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and said Washington is suffering from “strategic confusion”.
“It is an honor for Mr. Zarif and the Foreign Ministry that the Americans have sanctioned him but this method is indicative of the collapse of the US ruling system,” Hojjatoleslam Haj Ali Akbari said, addressing a congregation of worshippers in Tehran on Friday.
The move by the US administration also shows that the discourse of resistance (neither negotiation nor war) has been effective, the cleric added.
It also indicates that the US policy of “begging” has got nowhere and that Washington has been “suffering from strategic confusion”, he stated.
On Wednesday, the US Department of State said Washington has designated Zarif for acting on behalf of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. The US president had issued an executive order on June 24, imposing sanctions on the Leader and his office and authorizing sanctions on others associated with Ayatollah Khamenei.
The senior Iranian diplomat has dismissed the US move, saying that being designated by the US would not affect him since he has ho properties outside Iran.
“We know that calling for dialog & peace is an existential threat to B-Team. And since reason for designating me is my words, would ‘US persons’ need OFAC license to ‘engage’ with me by reading my writings or listening to interviews?” Zarif said in a Twitter post.
The remarks came against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and the US after the Islamic Republic shot down an advanced US spy drone over its territorial waters.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on June 20 that a US spy drone that violated the Iranian territorial airspace in the early hours of the day was shot down by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s air defense unit near the Kooh-e-Mobarak region in the southern province of Hormozgan.
The intruding drone was reportedly shot by Iran’s homegrown air defense missile system “Khordad-3rd”.
Later on the same day, US President Donald Trump said he had called off a retaliatory attack on a number of targets in Iran and said that he was ready to speak with Iranian leaders and come to an understanding that would allow the country to improve its economic prospects. “What I’d like to see with Iran, I’d like to see them call me.”
“I look forward to the day where we can actually help Iran. We're not looking to hurt Iran,” Trump added.
However, on June 24 Trump announced new sanctions against top Iranian officials, including the office of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, Iran’s foreign minister, and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
