Islamabad:
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has fallen hard on Israel and its western allies for “unprovoked” and “illegal” aggression against Iran, warning that the West’s double standards and ignoring diplomacy have pushed the region against dangerous escalation.
In a broad interview with Iran’s official news agency Irna, performed in Islamabad, Asif leapt out of both the United States and the Zionist regime and accused them of dismantling diplomatic paths and fuel to regional instability through repeated violations of international law.
“Unlike Iran, Westerners have destroyed the possibility of diplomacy and is the cause of the beginning of the Zionist regime and the US aggressions and the United States,” he said, adding that Iran’s behavior had remained “very constructive” everywhere.
Asif criticized the “hypocrisy” of global nuclear supervisory bodies, Asif criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and said its track record was occupied by bias and inconsistency.
“A regime that is not even a member of NPT, and there is no monitoring and inspection of its nuclear arsenals, can do something and is allowed to perform any aggression and attack on Palestine, Gaza, Yemen and now against Iran,” he said, referring to Israel’s exemption from the control that others are facing.
“All of these countries are the goals of these conscious and ruthless actions from Tel Aviv, which are not held responsible by IAEA,” he added.
The Minister of Defense said Israeli strikes over Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, and the US support of these attacks had grossly violated international norms.
He called the attacks “terrorist” in nature and accused the United States of committing “aggressive crimes” by beating Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“These actions,” said Asif, “is contrary to international law, the UN charter and humanitarian norms.”
Asif, who expressed concern about the growing volatility of the region, observed that Tehran had consistently been pushing for diplomacy, while it was the opposite side that went away from the negotiations.
“I think the situation has escalated to a dangerous level, especially in the last few weeks, when Iran continuously emphasized the need for negotiations and participation throughout this process and that the Iranians have never left the negotiating table,” he said.
“Iran has never launched the war, but both the destruction of diplomacy and the commencement of the war was performed by the other side (America and Israel), which led to Israel’s unequal aggression against the nation,” he added.
The minister pointed out that Iran had always favored commitment despite provocations.
“It’s ridiculous that the West always wants Iran to return to the negotiating table because the Iranians did not leave the negotiating table but have always required interaction and negotiations,” he said.
He noted that although Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi held conversations with European colleagues, another aggression against Tehran – having a pattern of undermining peace efforts was launched.
Asif argued that Israeli aggression had crossed borders and was now directed at Iran, which he described as a “planned conspiracy.”
“Israeli’s continued aggression against Palestinians was now reaching Iran,” he said, “called it a conspiracy planned and implemented by the Zionist regime.”
When he supports Tehran’s adaptation to the Palestinian case, Asif said, “The Iranians stand with Palestine, and this is never a crime.”
