Iran Press/Commentary: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated on Sunday President Trump’s claim that Iran was behind last week’s attacks on oil tankers in the Sea of Oman, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and that the United States is ready to take action if necessary.
Mike Pompeo said that Washington does not want to go into an armed conflict with Tehran, but hoped that the threat of force will be enough to draw Iranian leaders to the negotiating table.
“These were attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran on commercial shipping, on the freedom of navigation, with a clear intent to deny transit through the strait,” Pompeo claimed in an interview with “Fox News Sunday” without supplying any evidence to back up his claim. Pompeo reiterated that the US believes it was “unmistakable” that Iran was responsible for the attacks.
Pompeo added: “We don't want war. We've done what we can to deter this. The Iranians should understand very clearly that we will continue to take actions that deter Iran from engaging in this kind of behavior.”
Pompeo's comments come despite the fact that many countries have expressed serious doubts about Iran's alleged involvement in the tanker attacks. For example, the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was adamant that a blurry black and white video footage, released by the US military, does not prove that Iran was involved in the attacks on the two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman. Many other countries have also expressed doubt about the blurry video released by the Americans saying the grainy video does not prove anything. Even countries which are normally allies of the United States have said the video released was not enough to convince them.
Also both Russia and China have warned against rushing to assign blame for the attacks and accused the US of using its accusations against Iran to stoke tensions in the region. Also the European Union called for “maximum restraint”.
In his interview with Fox News, Pompeo said the United States does not want to go to war with Iran. The claim comes despite America's full-scale economic war against the Islamic Republic, imposing the toughest sanctions ever on Tehran. Pompeo also said the US would continue to apply maximum pressure on Tehran until Iran agrees to negotiate with the US.
It seems Trump administration officials have deluded themselves into thinking that 'maximum pressure on Iran' will force the Iranians to come to the negotiating table. There is deep division within the Trump administration on how to approach Iran and some senior administration officials, particularly in the Pentagon, and some in the State Department, oppose Donald Trump's aggressive policies vis-a-vis Iran.
Donald Trump has a way of blowing hot one minute and cold the next. At one point, Trump had passed on a telephone number to the Swiss embassy in Tehran so that Iranian officials would be able to contact him by phone if they wanted to. In his recent trip to Japan, Trump welcomed the mediation of Japanese prime minister Abe Shinzo, in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, and supported Abe's upcoming trip to Tehran.
In his meeting with the Leader of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Abe openly declared that he carried a message from Donald Trump, but the Leader dismissed any notion of more negotiations with America, given America's past record of reneging on its promises and unilaterally abrogating the treaties that it has signed. The Leader questioned Donald Trump and his administration's sincerity, and truthfulness, and said the bitter experience of protracted negotiations with the Americans will never again be repeated. It doesn't make sense to negotiate with someone who doesn't respect any international agreement.
Meanwhile, experts and analysts have warned the Trump administration that a fully-fledged war with Iran would be disastrous for Washington as well as for the entire Middle East region. It will also have a disastrous effect on the world's economy, and on the price of oil in the global markets. David Jeffrey Frum, a Canadian-American political commentator, a contributing editor at neoconservative opinion magazine 'The Weekly Standard', and a columnist for Canada's National Post has warned the Trump administration about the consequences of military action against Iran. David Frum, the well-known neoconservative analyst, published a piece in the Atlantic magazine, titled: "Take it from someone who supported the Iraq war: War with Iran would be catastrophic."
Donald Trump and his administration have been accused of beating the drum of war with recent inflammatory statements against Iran. Despite the offers of negotiations, the Americans are still persisting with their policy of maximum pressure on Tehran, and their campaign of Iranophobia.
Experts say the US will never succeed to “build an international consensus” against Tehran, with all the signs pointing to a manufactured US crisis, and a false-flag operation, with regards to the attack on oil tankers in the Sea of Oman. America's threats and strong-arm tactics will not work against Iran.
The well-known American analyst Trudy Rubin says: "Trumps criticisms of Iran and his calls on America's allies to form an anti-Iran front will guarantee the failure of Trump's policies. Iran has proven that it will successfully overcome US sanctions, and will successfully counter Trump's aggressive policies." 211/104
writer: Seyyed Reza Mir-Taher
Translator: Mehran Derakhshandeh
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