MNA� Iran�s FM spokesman Ghasemi said Wed. the real threat to Middle East�s security and development is the US intervention in countries� affairs aimed at destabilization with specific goals.

Iran�s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi made the comment in reaction to the remarks by US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Tuesday, accusing Iran of �malign activities� that threaten �regional and international peace and security.�

Nauert's remarks were followed by imposition of new economic sanctions on 18 Iranian individuals and groups right after the US administration confirmed that Iran is complying with the terms of the international nuclear deal.

Ghasemi dismissed Nauert�s claim as �unfounded� and �absurd�, saying �Iran as the oldest and most historical country in the region believes that development and welfare of Muslim nations can be achieved only through establishment of peace and security without intervention of transregional powers.�

�The Islamic Republic of Iran is certainly more concerned with the security and stability of its region than a country like the United States, which is thousands of miles away, trying to interfere with and affect regional equations in accordance with its own strategic interests and objectives,� Ghasemi stressed.

He went on to add, �accusing Iran of violating the spirit of the nuclear deal [is quite ironic] when one considers US measures, decisions and tension-creating policies in the past two years which run counter to their JCPOA-related commitments for its �successful� implementation with �goodwill�.�

�The US has been trying directly and indirectly to undermine Iran�s profits, and the Islamic Republic has raised its objections against the attitude of the US administration in the JCPOA joint commission�s meeting with representatives from 5+1,� he added.

Ghasemi concluded that the Islamic Republic of Iran has devised all its military programs based on a defense and deterrence mechanism, and has never considered its military capabilities as a threat against any country.

�American officials see Iran�s independent policies toward regional and international developments as a threat to their own interventionist and humiliating policies,� he added.