Tehran to Pompeo: It’s US, not Iran, that should change in nature

Hitting back at US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Tehran says Washington’s misbehavior and “unlawful” measures have led to growing calls on the world stage for a change in the US regime’s nature.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Moussavi was reacting on Wednesday to Pompeo’s comments at a press conference at Texas A&M University earlier this week, where he said Washington was hoping to achieve “a change in the nature and the behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran and their leadership.”

He said officials in the current US administration have been revealing the country’s true intentions, “but the one who needs to change in nature is the US itself, not Iran.”

“The global community’s growing opposition to [the US] behavior and the actions it takes in violation of  international law has triggered a global demand for the US regime nature to undergo change,” he added.

Referring to Washington’s harsh economic sanctions against Iran, the official said the US had taken free international trade hostage by resorting to economic terrorism and bullying, and by forcing countries to act on the basis of its illegitimate demands and policies.

In May 2018, the US exited a multi-lateral nuclear accord with Iran. Washington then reinstated the sanctions that had been lifted under the accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which has been endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution.

Ever since, the US has been warning third countries that they would face “secondary sanctions” if they kept up their trade with Iran.

PressTV-Iran seizes on economic adversity to advance: Zarif

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Iranian nation will use the opportunity of economic hardship to reinvent itself and advance.

Mousavi said the US is restricting international trade while it is selling billions of dollars worth of deadly weapons to the Middle East, including the Persian Gulf region, which are being used to massacre civilians.

The United States does not respect international values and laws, the spokesman said.

“It is endangering international order, peace, and stability on a daily basis, and therefore needs a change in its nature,” he added.