In a private interview, the head of the Iranian Interests Section in Cairo, Ambassador Mohammad Hossein Soltani, said that his country’s recent attack on US military bases in Gulf states before the ceasefire came was a response to Washington’s attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Any nuclear agreement with America will not be concluded before it is ratified by the US Congress, he noted, so that no president can come and cancels the agreement, as happened with the 2015 agreement.
Sultani also praised Egypt’s stance in rejecting America’s aggression, while commending the role of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif. He also affirmed his country’s right to close the Strait of Hormuz, with expectations indicate that a barrel of oil may reach up to US$400.
How do you see the future of the Middle East after the 12-day war with Israel?
I believe the Middle East has entered into a new and very complex phase. This is a shared desire of the US and Israel, which they have sought to achieve for decades, in order to implement their diabolical plan for a new Middle East and reshape it as they see fit. However, Iran is aware of these moves by Israel and is confronting them.
How would you describe the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities? Why were US bases in the Gulf region attacked? Wasn’t this considered a provocation to those Arab countries?
The attack on the US bases was a natural response to the targeting of Iranian nuclear facilities. This is our right, and no one can blame us for it. We must emphasize that the Gulf states are sister countries. We did not target its people or its territory. Rather, we targeted American bases there, which threaten our national security.
We warned Washington against this, telling them it was, “An eye for an eye.”
Regarding America’s military aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, it is a violation of international law and the UN Charter.
It is also a barbaric act that enforces the “law of the jungle” in dealing with states.
This measure was met with rejection and condemnation from the Iranian government and people, as well as from many countries around the world, who are aware of and understand the extent of this “evil” American move, aimed at stirring up unrest in the Middle East and defending Israel.
This is not far removed from what Washington did while supporting Tel Aviv in its criminal war on the Gaza Strip.
Why did America intervene in the war on Tehran? Was it to halt negotiations on the nuclear issue, or to cover up the failure of the Israeli Iron Dome?
America’s terrorist attack on the three nuclear facilities in the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan regions came after Israel’s disastrous and unexpected failure.
Our military weapons and the expertise of our soldiers and scientists exposed the failure of the Iron Dome.
Israel, the illegitimate child of both the US and Europe, failed to achieve the White House’s evil goals.
Washington intervened by launching strikes against its nuclear facilities, revealing to the world that it is a country that does not seek peace, but rather sponsors terrorism and is mired in war and bloodshed.
You say that Iran is working to thwart the new Middle East plan. Can it do so alone?
Iran is fulfilling its duties toward its people and its land.
This is not far from Egypt’s pivotal and important role in the Arab and Islamic region and the Middle East.
Cairo’s rejection of the plan to forcibly displace Palestinians from their lands has been followed by the entire world, which has followed Egypt’s efforts to preserve the Palestinian cause.
Both Saudi Arabia and Turkey can make efforts to stop the change in the Middle East.
So, how do you view bilateral relations with Egypt, and its position in rejecting America’s attack on Tehran?
Egypt is a major sister country, and I believe that restoring relations between Cairo and Tehran at this time will thwart the US-Israel’s plan to reshape the Middle East.
The attacks in Washington and Tel Aviv were the starting point for implementing this project. I note that the position of Egypt, both government and people, is something we hold in high esteem.
It is not strange that Egypt, the country of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, would hold its position in rejecting the Israeli-US aggression against Tehran, amidst solidarity and popular calls on social media for victory for Iran.
And because the Egyptian people are intelligent, they are fully aware that Iran is part of the fabric of the Islamic nation and is waging a war to defend itself and the region against the evils of the world.
We greatly appreciate the statement issued by the Grand Imam, Ahmed al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, in both Arabic and Persian. It was highly appreciated by the people of Iran and the Islamic world, and we will never forget it.
Let me emphasize the high-level bilateral contacts between President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as between Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in addition to numerous bilateral meetings, the most recent of which was in Istanbul.
All of these affirm the closeness between Cairo and Tehran and the depth of their relations.
In your opinion, why did Israel attack Iran before the sixth round of negotiations with the United States?
Israel has had a long-term plan to change the Middle East, which crystalized during the era of US President George H.W. Bush.
Therefore, Tel Aviv wants to achieve its goals at any time.
We were very close to a nuclear agreement through negotiations with the US, especially in the sixth round, and things were going well – they even asked to discuss the ballistic missile program.
However, they were informed that Tehran was limiting its negotiations to the nuclear issue only, and the West wanted to link the nuclear agreement by Tehran into not supporting the resistance and releasing a greater number of Westerners arrested on espionage charges.
We entered into negotiations with Trump, and we are fully aware that he has a psychological problem: he wants to sign a “Trump” agreement, not a nuclear agreement similar to the one that occurred in 2015, during the era of former US President Barack Obama, or with the European Union.
And without reaching a final agreement, there can be trust in the US.
You accuse the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of submitting a report that appears to be a pretext for Israeli and American intervention, but he denies this.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is complicit with both the US and Israel, having submitted biased and inaccurate reports. This was a pretext for criminal intervention. Therefore, our country is reconsidering cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and suspending relations with it, due to its complicity in aggressive actions by an entity and a state that possesses nuclear weapons against Iran, which does not possess nuclear weapons.
This matter confirms the total absence of international law.
Your country has discussed the possibility of resuming negotiations. What are your conditions?
Any agreement with the US regarding the nuclear deal must be ratified by the US Congress, so that it does not become a decision in the hands of any president who could revoke it at any time.
It must also be approved according to a specific agenda within the United Nations.
Otherwise, Tehran will not give up on this scenario, especially since Washington has clearly become unconcerned with international peace.
Following the attacks, Washington announced that it did not want regime change in Tehran and was seeking negotiations.
The US has proven that it cannot be trusted. We will not prepare for a sixth round of negotiations in the Sultanate of Oman while Israel launches terrorist attacks against a peaceful country, and then, 10 days later, Washington launches its own attacks.
This confirms that there is US-Israeli coordination.
Therefore, we will not accept negotiations until the aggression stops, while emphasizing that we will not compromise on uranium enrichment, for the sake of the Iranian people and their heroic scientists, a number of whom have sacrificed their lives at the hands of Israeli terrorism.
The world and the US must realize the seriousness of talk about regime change, which Washington tries to exploit occasionally.
The Iranian regime, government and people, are very cohesive and have shown their strength in unity.
How would you describe Trump, who seeks the Nobel Peace Prize and then attacks your country?
Before assuming his second term, Trump said that if he were in the White House, the Ukrainian-Russian war would have ended. He then stated that he would end it within 24 hours.
More than five months have passed since he returned to the White House without stopping the war.
He then stalled negotiations to stop the war on the Gaza Strip, and his country used its veto power, despite the deaths of thousands of innocent women, children, and the elderly.
Then came his subsequent blatant aggression against Iranian nuclear facilities days after assisting Tel Aviv in its evil war.
All of this only means that the entire world has come to know the ugly, vacillating, lying, and deceitful side of the US president.
If the war continued, would you expect a World War?
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of this, and if the war had continued, it would have escalated into a full-scale war.
I believe that what Trump did—issuing tariffs on countries around the world, most notably China, and providing weapons to Taiwan—is a violation of the One China principle.
The US President’s failure to resolve the Ukrainian war, and simultaneously, his fear that the BRICS economic bloc will become the largest global bloc and that it could cause a decline in the value of the dollar against national currencies, all confirm that Trump wants to incite wars globally – whether military or economic.
Where do you see Russia and China’s position if the war expands?
Iran has friends who won’t stand idly by.
We saw Russian President Vladimir Putin call for mediation to stop the war, but Trump wasn’t willing to do so.
China knows what international tools it has at its disposal.
But if the war expands, it’s only natural that China, Russia, Pakistan, and North Korea would move to support Iran.
The Iranian Parliament approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during wartime. Was it possible to implement this?
Yes, the Iranian Parliament approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This is our right to self-defense and punish aggressors.
Therefore, I believe that Trump is second only to the Devil.
We were on the verge of victory over Israel, so the US intervened to prevent Israel’s declaration of defeat. Netanyahu was on the brink of collapse, and we expect the price of a barrel of oil to reach $400, in the event of the Strait of Hormuz being closed.
‘Eye for an eye’ – Iranian Ambassador discusses aftermath of war in exclusive interview Egypt Independent.
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