Rowhani dismisses US rhetoric as psychological warfare
IRNA
Tehran, May 31, IRNA -- Secretary of Supreme National Security Council
(SNSC) Hassan Rowhani said on Saturday that the US has embarked on
psychological warfare against Iran.
In a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmoud
Qasuri, Rowhani said that Iran is a democratic country and can never
be placed in the same category as Afghanistan and Iraq.
"In Afghanistan and Iraq, there had been no democratic
governments, but, in Iran 65 million people support their own
government and are ready to defend the country," he said.
Rowhani said that US officials are speculating their desire, but,
they know that Iran is inaccessible for them. They should take
practical steps to prove goodwill instead of conducting a volley of
rhetoric.
He said that the US unilateralism has put the international peace
and stability in jeopardy and condemned the US practice as the
'international gendarme which brought global dictatorship'.
He expressed surprise at the US anxiety about Iranian humanitarian
aid to the Iraqi people living under the critical situation in absence
of food, medicine and safe drinking water.
Rowhani said that the occupying powers' treatment of Iraqi people
is a cause of anxiety and called for speedy action to form a
democratic government in Iraq.
On Tehran-Islamabad relations, Rowhani said that relations between
the two countries are growing and called for utilizing the capacities
of the two countries for economic cooperation.
He said that Iranian and Pakistani nations enjoy cultural affinity
and the two governments and nations stand by each other in case of
difficulty in one or the other.
Rowhani appreciated President Pervez Musharraf's campaign against
extremists and sectarian violence in Pakistan and said Iran and
Pakistan have no difficulty in developing relations.
He said that Iran regards borders with Pakistan as safe borders.
Iran-Pakistan joint campaign against terrorism is of high
significance, he said, adding that both Taliban and al-Qaeda are
dangerous to the region.
He called on Pakistani government to prevent possible cross-border
movement of al-Qaeda elements into Iran.
Rowhani said that Iran has so far arrested and handed over more
than 500 al-Qaeda suspects to their respective countries.
He underscored the need to combat drug trafficking in cooperation
with Pakistan and Afghanistan and said that drug has jeopardized the
international community and campaign against the threat should be
seriously followed.
He said that Iran-Pakistan cooperation is a key for peace and
stability in the region and called for joint efforts to speed up
Afghan reconstruction.
Qasuri said that both Shia and Sunni Muslims are living in
Pakistan adding that Persian language had been Pakistan's formal
language before independence and the founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali
Jinnah had been a Shia Muslim.
He said that terrorists involved in assassination of Iranian
diplomats have ben arrested and Pakistan is seriously following the
international campaign against terrorists.
Qasuri said that Taliban (which enjoyed Islamabad's support
toppling President Burhanuddin Rabbani's government) led Iran-Pakistan
to strained relations and expressed pleasure with improved relations
between the two countries.
The Pakistani foreign minister said that Washington has adopted
wrong policy toward Iran and called on the United States to revise it.
SS/AH/AR
End
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