Warsaw meeting will fail to undermine Iran's power

Iran’s top military commander says a hostile anti-Iran meeting planned to be hosted by the US in the Polish capital will fail to undermine the Islamic Republic’s power or affect its policies.

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri played down the confab, which will is to open in Warsaw on Wednesday, as “insignificant” and “worthless.”

Baqeri said Poland had pledged that the so-called Middle East security meeting would not include any anti-Iran discussions.

“Whether or not anything is said against Iran during Warsaw meeting, it will fail to affect the Islamic Republic’s measures and power,” said the Iranian general.

“We should wait to see if the Polish will keep their words,” he said.

The international gathering will take place in Warsaw on February 13 and 14 as part of US attempts to put global pressure on Iran.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the meeting would “focus on Middle East stability and peace, freedom and security here in this region, and that includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.”

Later in the month, however, and as officials from various countries indicated their refusal to participate, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Jonathan Cohen claimed at the UN Security Council that the meeting was “not a venue to demonize or attack Iran,” in an apparent about-face.

Since withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal last year, the US administration has steadily ratcheted up pressure on Tehran and vowed to increase it until Iran halts what US officials describe as its “malign activities” throughout the Mideast and elsewhere.

As part of its policy of maximum pressure, Washington in early November re-imposed what it called the harshest-ever sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The meeting has, however, received a cold welcome from Washington’s European allies, which are engaged in a diplomatic process with Tehran aimed at saving the 2015 nuclear deal.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has already said she will not attend, while ministers from several European Union countries will likely skip the summit, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.

Tehran condemned the confab as a “circus” and summoned Poland’s envoy to protest the European country’s plan to host the event.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that the Warsaw meeting had fallen flat on its face before even getting off the ground.

“The Warsaw meeting was rendered doomed to failure before start,” he said.