Longstanding US Hostility Toward Iran
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Bilateral relations were frosty under Obama, despite the nuclear agreement, breached by his administration straightaway, according to an Iranian complaint filed with the IAEA.
Washington used the nuclear deal to justify expanding its regional military footprint, increase aid to Israel, and sell billions of dollars more weapons to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
Numerous US breaches of the deal occurred since consummated. America’s word isn’t its bond. It’s an untrustworthy negotiating party.
Trump wants Washington out of the deal unilaterally if he follows through on his threat. Congressional members near-unanimously are hostile toward Iran – for its sovereign independence and aid to Syria in combating US-supported terrorists, not because of any threat the country poses to America, Israel or any other nation.
On Wednesday, House members voted to block commercial aircraft sales to Iran, along with prohibiting use of funds to authorize the required financial transactions – by voice vote.
Boeing, Airbus and other companies need Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licenses to complete sales – because over 10% of commercial airliner parts are made in America.
On Wednesday, CENTCOM head General Joseph Votel said Washington intends a more aggressive approach in dealing with Iran in cyberspace.
He lied claiming Tehran “operate(s) almost entirely in what we refer to as the gray zone, that space between normal international competition and armed conflict…an area ripe for cyberspace operations.”
“We at CENTCOM are examining ways to compete in the gray zone. Integrating cyberspace operations as part of a holistic approach is clearly a critical part of that.”
Phony claims about malign Iranian regional influence persist, a joint US/Israeli campaign to vilify the country.
Votel absurdly blamed the Saudi, UAE, Bahraini and Egyptian spat with Qatar on Iran’s “ability to use cyberspace to manipulate information out there, to propagate (its) message…”
Israel and America’s presence represent the region’s top threat, not Iran, Russia and China, as Votel claimed.
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