Iran's Foreign Minister: We Are Not Seeking Conflict and War with the U.S.

Iran's Foreign Minister states that the Islamic Republic is not seeking "conflict and war" with the United States unless a "group" decides to act "madly," and that Iran is too significant to react to a few small Arab countries in the region. Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview with the Tuesday, January 14 edition of the Tehran newspaper "Al-Wefaq," elaborated on the general policies of Iran's Foreign Ministry in the region and the world, stating that as Ali Khamenei has announced, "there will be no war unless a group wants to act madly or create a trap for themselves or their allies in the region." His reference is to the statements made by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in September of this year, who said that although there is a "political" possibility of war, the armed forces must enhance their capabilities. However, Khamenei later warned in December that everyone should be cautious of America's "deception": "They may have drawn up plans for 2019." In this interview, Zarif asserted that "we are not seeking conflict, war, or tension," claiming that "the Americans and some governments in our region have pursued policies that create tension." According to the Iranian Foreign Minister, while the Americans send messages to the Islamic Republic saying, "We want to talk to you," they themselves "were the ones who exited the dialogue." Zarif described America's proposals for negotiations with Iran as being "in their own interests," many of which he claimed were "propaganda" or "not in the interest of this region." However, he noted that "the Americans during Mr. Obama's administration were very eager to talk to us about the region and at that time they did not hide their desire and expressed it openly; the same has been true during Trump's administration." The United States exited the agreement between six world powers and Iran regarding its nuclear program on May 8 of this year and reinstated sanctions that had been suspended against Tehran in two rounds. While Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and other officials are calling for a new agreement with Iran that includes not only the nuclear program but also missile activities and Tehran's role in the region, Iranian officials, including Hassan Rouhani, have called Washington's exit from the JCPOA a "mistake" and rejected negotiations with the U.S. "Iran is not seeking superpower status." Mohammad Javad Zarif also stated that "no one has been able to gain benefits from prior cooperation with the U.S. for this region," citing the Arab countries of the region as an example. According to the Iranian Foreign Minister, the strategy of the Islamic Republic is "cooperation with Arab and non-Arab neighbors," but "it seems that some Arab countries, regardless of what policy the Islamic Republic pursues, want to tell the world that they have disagreements with Iran." He rejected the notion that Iran is attempting to achieve "superpower status in the region," stating that "the era of superpowers is over; no one can be a superpower either in the region or in the world."