Tabnak – Indifferent to Saudi Arabia’s warmongering and acts of aggression throughout the Middle East, the United States is continuing its political as well as military support for the kingdom. Taking into account this bitter fact, Iran’s top commander warns that the American policy would lead to more regional instabilities.
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri deplored Washington’s major role in causing conflicts in the Middle East and said the US is providing the grounds for more wars by supplying weapons to the Saudi regime.
“By deploying military units to various parts (of the world) and using the bullying rhetoric, the US is spreading disorder,” Major General Baqeri said, addressing the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) 2018 that opened in Tehran on Monday.
He added that the US has created turmoil in most parts of the West Asia region through supporting the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group.
According to him, Washington is also promoting non-commitment to international agreements, the commander said, adding that, for example, it has violated the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany).
“The United States has set the ground for crises, wars and an arms race by sending weapons to Saudi Arabia,” Major General Baqeri went on to say.
Baqeri’s remarks echoed those by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who denounced Washington last December for “covertly assisting Daesh and the Takfiris.”
A month later, Ayatollah Khamenei remarked that the United States had been relocating the terror group from the Middle East to Afghanistan to try to justify its military presence in the region.
The Iranian commander described the recent coordinated attack by the US, the UK and France against Syria’s capital Damascus and the western Syrian city of Homs as a clear example of “illegal behavior.”
The military chief, meanwhile, said some superpowers’ naval presence in the Indian Ocean and their interference in the waters had triggered insecurity, with the ongoing massive bombardment of Yemen serving as a case in point.
The US and the UK, which have warships anchored off Yemen, have been supporting Saudi Arabia’s pummeling of the impoverished nation by lending the kingdom generous arms support, logistical assistance, including coordinates for precision bombing, and aerial refueling of Saudi warplanes.
“They [the powers] pave the ground for war by sending arms to various regional countries, including Saudi Arabia," Baqeri said. The general also said the security situation of the Indian Ocean is directly linked to the security of other regions in the world.
The naval symposium began on Monday morning with high-ranking military officials and navy commanders from 35 countries in attendance. During the conference, Iran officially assumes presidency of the symposium for two years.
The IONS is a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime co-operation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues. There are 32 Navies of the IONS - 23 members and 9 observers.
