Above photo: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Reuters / Khalid al-Mousily.
‘Warmongering lies.’
America’s “declassifications” of information about Iran are “fictitious,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has tweeted. It followed US State Secretary Mike Pompeo accusing Iran, without proof, of harboring Al-Qaeda’s base.
“Mr. ‘we lie, cheat, steal’ is pathetically ending his disastrous career with more warmongering lies,” Zarif wrote in a fiery message in the wake of Pompeo’s statement, referring to the US State Secretary by his infamous 2019 quote.
Zarif denounced the Iran “declassifications” and the claims Pompeo made about its links to Al-Qaeda, calling them “fictitious.” He also condemned the US’ decision to re-include Cuba in the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The minister noted that the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack orchestrated by Al-Qaeda came from Pompeo’s “favorite Middle Eastern destinations; none from Iran.” Of the 19 plane hijackers involved in the 9/11 attack, 15 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, with the rest coming from UAE, Lebanon, and Egypt.
His response on Twitter came as Pompeo claimed it was the US’ relentless pursuit that forced Al-Qaeda into a “safer haven” – supposedly Iran. The Secretary of State added that some Al-Qaeda operatives have had decades-long connections within the Islamic Republic, although he did not provide any evidence to substantiate any of his claims.