Respecting Iran's Rights Will Reduce Hatred Towards US

Tehran, Jan 9, IRNA – Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday that respecting the rights of the Iranian nation will reduce hatred of the nation towards the US. He told reporters that he hoped for practical changes in the US foreign policy so that the US government must respect the rights of other nations. Commenting on the appointment of Chuck Hagel as the new US Secretary of Defense who is known for pro-Iran and anti-Zionist views, he said the Iranian nation has no good memory of the US officials statements, because, their words never translated into practice. He said the US officials should adopt policies propping up security rather than war-mongering. Asked to comment on Iranian initiative to help resolve Bahraini crisis, he said the issue of public demands is not something to be treated differently in this or that country, so that when people in Syria are putting forward their demands, the same thing happens in case of Bahrain as well. Referring to Iranian initiative to encourage national dialogue in Bahrain, the spokesman said that the Islamic Republic of Iran Tehran has made its views clear to Bahraini government during all contacts that national dialogue has to be held there as well and that the Bahraini officials should both listen to their people and go ahead with reforms. On the presence of over 20,000 US troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014, he said the presence of foreign military and security forces is cause of insecurity in the country. He said, "You cannot find even a single example which foreign troops have not deteriorated the situation." On Iraq, the spokesman said that Iran regarded sectarian and interfaith discord in Iraq as a plot engineered by the Zionists. He said that religious conflicts would only benefit enemies of Islamic nations. "The regional governments should stop spread of evil acts in the Middle East and defend their territorial integrity, national sovereignty and independence."/end