IRNA - A senior Iranian security official says weakening or annihilating the Islamic Republic of Iran has been a dream of enemies since the victory of the Islamic Republic which has never and will never come true.


In an interview with Al Alam TV network, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani also referred to recent protest gatherings in Iran and hasty reaction shown by certain regional countries which are ruled by a tribal system.

'Holding gatherings within the framework of law has been recognized as the legitimate right of people by the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran,' Shamkhani said, adding that in most countries of the region such a right to voice protest is not recognized at all.

He said the protest gatherings held by people to voice their demands got out of its natural course as soon as some rioters seeking to create insecurity in the country embarked on violent actions.

When the protestors realized that their move was misused by certain people they immediately distanced themselves from the rioters and no longer followed their lead, Shamkhani said.
The SNSC secretary said 'In our country we do not have any law on state of emergency. Since its establishment 40 years ago and despite facing many serious crises the Islamic Republic of Iran has never declared a state of emergency. But in France following some firecrackers thrown by Takfiri groups which are supported by certain regional countries a state of emergency was declared. Such a state of emergency is still in place in Turkey. But normal life has been going on in Iran even during a week of unrests in the country.'

The US and the Zionist regime have made great investments to create insecurity in Iran by imposing an eight- year- long war, slapping widespread sanctions and forming coalitions to isolate the country but have failed to materialize their goals, Shamkhani said.

Pointing to Yemen crisis and claims of the US and its ally Saudi Arabia on Iran's assistance to Ansar Allah, he said 'Yemen has been besieged by certain regional countries to an extent that food staff and other essential goods cannot reach it. A missile is not small pack of food but a very heavy and huge device that cannot be transported by a boat. A claim that a missile can be provided to country that is under full air, marine and land siege is really a foolish claim.

'We believe that such baseless claims are raised by the Saudis in a bid to avoid responding to the public opinion in the world, particularly the Islamic states, about their three years of murdering, genocide, killing Arabs and children, round the clock bombardments and attacks on bazaar and wedding party.'

These brutal and barbaric acts have caused a human tragedy in Yemen, promoting protests from all popular organizations and even Riyadh's western allies, he said.

Shamkhani made it clear that the policies of countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are full of strategic mistakes. 'Their mistake is not limited to Yemen alone. |They made a similar mistake in connection with Qatar. When Saddam Hussein (former Iraqi dictator) attacked Iran they supported Saddam in order to weaken our country. However, Saddam's attack on Kuwait caused Arab countries to bear heavy expenses.

'Unfortunately, wealth, lack of political knowledge and youngness of the rulers of these countries have led to division (of Muslim countries) waste of their financial resources, turning the issue of Palestine into a secondary issue, supporting terrorists and attack on a neighboring country. All these cases have served to distract the attention of the Muslim world from the Palestinian problem to other issues and this is a big treason that history and the Arab world will never forget.'
On Syria crisis, Shamkhani said in the course of the crisis it became clear that there has been no Islamic awakening or Arab spring in that country but rather a political deal reached by certain countries to weaken the resistance movement and strengthen the Zionist regime. Thanks to the support of Iran and Russia for Syrian government, the people, government and military of that country attained the final victory over Daesh.

On Iraq, the SNSC secretary said Iran has always attached great importance to Iraq's security and stability. He said Iraq today is quite different from what it was when Daesh came into existence. Today, Iraq is quite capable of defending itself. 'We will always stand by the people of Iraq as a neighboring country and a strategic partner with which we have many regional, cultural and civilizational commonalties.'

Elsewhere in the interview, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council underlined the need for the western party to stick to their commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal (between Iran and G5+1), known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

'The JCPOA is the sole achievement of the European Union's foreign policy and the only successful document for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons. If it is subjected to any form of collapse, this will be detrimental to the security and economy of Europe and the international community,' he warned.

He also cautioned 'If one day the JCPOA is put aside for whatever reason, certainly Iran will not be the loser party and given the world's judgment about Iran's commitment to the deal and dishonesty of the other party, the Islamic Republic will proceed with all its technical measures at higher speed and more vigorously.'