Harsh Reaction from Zarif and Velayati to U.S. Secretary of State's Remarks

Ali Akbar Velayati, head of the Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Discernment Council, called John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, 'exaggerative,' 'impudent,' 'shameless,' and 'deceptive,' while Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, urged Kerry not to make 'baseless and clichéd' accusations against the Islamic Republic. According to a report on Sunday, April 22, by Fars News Agency, Velayati made these comments during a television program called 'Negah Yek' on Saturday night, accusing the U.S. Secretary of State of 'distortion.' Last week, Kerry stated after meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries that these countries are concerned about Iran's missile tests. Kerry mentioned the U.S. readiness to cooperate with the Islamic Republic to 'peacefully resolve ongoing disputes' in the region, a proposal that has met with a strong reaction from Iranian officials. In response to these remarks, Velayati stated that 'the country's defense issues are non-negotiable and the U.S. cannot determine our defense geometry.' He posed the question, 'How can U.S. allies have military power while the Islamic Republic cannot have missile capabilities?' The senior advisor to Ali Khamenei on international affairs added that the position of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic is to 'stand firm' against the 'excessive demands' of the West and the U.S., and there are 'no behind-the-scenes negotiations' on this matter. In another part of his speech, he defended Bashar al-Assad, stating that Iran assists Damascus in fighting 'terrorists' at the 'legal request' of the Syrian president. Velayati addressed the U.S. and the West, saying, 'What business is it of yours whether Bashar al-Assad is there or not? The people of Syria will decide this,' and 'the condition for Assad's departure is a red line for us.' He stated that 'the Americans are trying to establish a puppet regime in Syria that supports them,' which they have failed to do and will not succeed. The day before, Hossein Dehghan, Iran's Defense Minister, assessed Kerry's remarks as 'indicative of American desperation and their inability to protect and support regional allies.' Dehghan stated that 'discussions about Iran's defense requirements are beyond the authority of the Americans,' and the only way to ensure security in the region is the withdrawal of American forces. He also added that 'if John Kerry thinks for a moment, he will not speak such nonsense and will be less forgetful and less prone to incorrect analysis.' Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the IRGC, also stated on Saturday that 'discussions about Iran's defense requirements are beyond the authority of the Americans.' Salami added that 'the missile industry is progressing and is subject to the internal decisions of the system and under the command of' the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Zarif: Kerry's remarks were baseless; the U.S. should stop arms sales to the region. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, also declared the Islamic Republic's defense policies non-negotiable and called Kerry's remarks in this regard 'baseless.' According to a report on Sunday (April 22) by Fars News Agency, Zarif stated at a joint press conference with Estonia's Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand that 'our defense issues have been explicitly excluded from the JCPOA, and the U.S. State Department has officially announced this several times.' In response to Kerry's comments about Iran's missile program and accusations of Tehran supporting terrorism, he added, 'Kerry's remarks were so baseless that the U.S. State Department denied them and claimed that such statements were not made.' Zarif harshly added that 'if the U.S. government is truly serious about defense issues, it should reduce arms sales to the region that kill innocent people in Yemen every day and should stop the weapons that are officially used by the Zionist regime to attack civilians.' He urged the U.S. Secretary of State to ask his country's allies, 'Where did ISIS get its weapons from?' 'Who sells ISIS oil?' and 'Where are the antiquities stolen by ISIS in Iraq and Syria sold?' The Iranian Foreign Minister called on American officials to take regional issues more seriously instead of making 'baseless and clichéd accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran' and to avoid further entangling themselves and the world in their wrong policies and planning. These remarks from Mohammad Javad Zarif came after Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, called on the Foreign Ministry to respond 'clearly' to what he termed Washington's 'impudence' in Iran's defense affairs following Kerry's remarks. He stated that 'the country's diplomatic apparatus is expected to respond promptly and decisively to the impudence of the U.S., especially the U.S. Secretary of State, and to eliminate any gaps and dualities in this area by announcing strategic unity and national will in Islamic Iran to preserve, strengthen, and develop defensive and missile capacities.'