Qasemi to Trump: Your Advisors Are Behind on Regional Developments

Two days after Donald Trump referred to the Islamic Republic as a 'rogue regime', Iran's Foreign Ministry responded by accusing the U.S. President's advisors of being stuck in a 'foggy past' and unaware of 'realities and obvious facts'. The spokesperson of the ministry also accused Trump's advisors of being 'behind on developments in Iran, the region, and the world'. On Thursday evening, July 13, during a joint press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Trump named Iran alongside Syria and North Korea as 'rogue regimes', stating that we are witnessing new threats from them. Trump mentioned Iran while discussing today's world conditions, stating: 'Today we face new threats from rogue regimes like North Korea, Iran, and Syria, and from governments that finance and support them.' Washington has announced its support for a peaceful change of government in Iran, which has provoked strong protests from Tehran. In response to these comments, according to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, on Saturday, July 15, described Iran's role in the region and the world as 'positive, constructive, and stabilizing'. He further advised the U.S. to 'look for rebellion and insurrection in its selfish and chaotic policies and actions and those of some of its stubborn, aggressive, and occupying allies in the region' and to learn from the past. While the Iranian official describes the Islamic Republic's role in the region as 'constructive and stabilizing', a number of regional countries, including the Arab Gulf states, have consistently described Iran's foreign policy as a factor of 'instability' in the region, especially in recent years. It seems that Bahram Qasemi's reference to the 'aggressive and occupying allies' of the U.S. includes the Arab Gulf states as well as Israel, which has been repeatedly threatened with 'destruction' by Iranian officials. Iran's Arab neighbors, with the exception of Iraq and Syria, have always criticized the Islamic Republic and its policies in the region, accusing it of meddling and supporting terrorism. The criticism from these countries, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has recently been highlighted in the Qatar crisis with its four Arab neighbors. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates announced on June 5 that they were cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar due to 'Qatar's support for terrorism' and 'protecting their national security'. They subsequently published a list of demands from Qatar, one of which clearly states: 'Qatar must close the Iranian embassy in Doha, the capital of Qatar, along with Iranian consulates in other parts of Qatar. Doha must also expel the IRGC agents present in Qatar. Qatar must stop military cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Qatar has been informed that it is only allowed to have limited trade relations - in compliance with U.S. sanctions.' Iran shares this unpopularity with officials in the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, who recently described the Iranian government as detestable and stated that 'we should not adopt an approach that unites the people of Iran with this unpopular government.'