SUMMARY:�In an interview on English-language outlet Press TV on Wednesday night, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif set out the Government�s line on the Syrian crisis, maintaining blame on the US for trying to turn the �hypothetical use� of chemical weapons by the Assad regime into a war.
Zarif declared that a �number of groups inside the US and some interests outside wanted to trap President Obama, a trap he laid for himself, by getting him involved� in a military conflict.

The Foreign Minister continued that the US has �no right to be judge, jury, and executioner, especially in light of its own record�.The US is living in the 19th century, when the use of force was the prerogative of states. It is not [any longer]�.

Zarif also tried to limit any report by UN inspectors of the sites of the August 21 chemical weapons attacks near Damascus, saying that �it didn�t have the mandate, unfortunately, to determine responsibility�.

Instead, he shifted the issue to trying to �a region free from weapons of mass destruction�.

And who was really causing the problems in Syria? The Foreign Minister answered, �Extremists and takfiris [Muslim heretics] from outside�. He repeated that Iran had passed information to the US since last year that insurgents were bringing chemical weapons into Syria.
FM Zarif: �Nuclear Talks Should Be Time-Bound and Based on Mutual Respect�
In his televised interview on Wednesday night, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif�repeated President Rouhani�s call for nuclear talks�in the near-future with the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia).

Zarif said the talks should be �based on mutual respect� and that they must be �time-bound�, rather than dragging out indefinitely. He insisted that �nuclear weapons have no place� in Iran�s plans and strategy.

The Foreign Minister claimed this provocative lesson, �You cannot try have security at the expense of the insecurity of others. If that was achievable, 9-11 would not have happened.�
Revolutionary Guards: Iraqi Group Will Hit Saudi Oil Facilities if US Attacks Syria
Fars News, the outlet of the Revolutionary Guards,�has maintained the threat�that Saudi Arabia will be attacked if the US carries out military intervention in Syria.

The website says that the leader of the Iraqi group Jaysh Al-Mukhtar, Sheikh Wathiq Al-Battat, has vowed to target Saudi oil installations and ports, �We will cut the West�s economic artery in Saudi Arabia�.The Saudi Royal family is trying to stir instability and insecurity in some countries by interfering in their internal affairs.�

Last week, Fars reported that al-Battat had promised to target Washington�s interests in Iraq and the Persian Gulf with �23,000? suicide bombers if the US attacked Syria.

The reports sit uneasily with Iran�s denial that it has planned revenge attacks in Iraq if the US carries out airstrikes in response to the Assad regime�s chemical weapons attacks.

By EA WorldView

 

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