‘U.S. trying to cover up defeat in Iraq through arrogant gestures’

TEHRAN, Oct. 31 (MNA) – Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Sunday that the Unites States is trying to cover up its defeat in Iraq through an arrogant language. Brigadier General Vahidi made the remarks in response to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who said on October 26 that the U.S. will maintain a significant presence in the Middle East even after the last of the 39,000 combat troops are out of Iraq. According to the AFP, Panetta also said that the message to Iran and everybody else that might have any ideas there is that the U.S. is going to have a presence in the region for a long time to come. “The occupiers of Iraq, who have no option but to leave the country due to the will of the Iraqi nation, are trying to cover up their desperation and defeat through their arrogant gestures,” Vahidi said. The Iranian defense minister added the hated U.S. occupiers, who have Iraqi people’s blood on their hands, are making efforts to undermine the long-standing relationship between Iraqi and Iranian nations. He also said that U.S. officials’ interventionist remarks and actions have exposed their deep fear of the unity between the two neighboring Muslim nations. U.S. officials’ repeated remarks saying that they will maintain presence in the region has revealed their hegemonist and interventionist nature, he added.