Iran Objects to ISIS Campaign

Arab News

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif addresses the media during a news conference in Vienna July 15, 2014.REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council accused the United States on Saturday of violating the sovereignty of nations on the “pretext of fighting terrorism” in Iraq and Syria.

“On the pretext of fighting terrorism, the United States want to pursue their unilateral policies and violate the sovereignty of states,” Ali Shamkhani said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

He said Washington was “trying to divert the eyes of the world from its pivotal role in supporting and equipping the terrorists in Syria in a bid to topple the legitimate regime.”

And the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, warned the US that launching strikes against Iran’s ally Syria as part of its campaign against the members of the Islamic State group would be “playing with fire.”

“The United States is playing with fire in the region and must know that it cannot attack Syria on the pretext of fighting against the Islamic State,” he said.

“The United States must know that if it attacks countries in the region… no one will be able to control the region. The fuse will be lit,” he warned.

Shamkhani and Larijani were the latest Iranian officials to criticize US efforts to wage war against the radicals.

Shamkhani’s comments come as France prepares to host a conference on Iraq in Paris on Monday to which Iran has not been invited.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday his country is opposed to Iran’s participation because of its “engagement in Syria and elsewhere.”

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