Putin plays with f ire in his new doctrine
Of late Vladimir Putin has shifted Russia’s nuclear doctrine to a more directly and openly retaliatory posture in response to any attack by Ukraine or any NATO country using longer-range US missiles.
Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Thursday said that his country was interested in diplomacy but not in negotiating with the US.
Zarif remarks come amidst spiralling tensions between the two countries over the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
The foreign minister said, “Iran is interested in diplomacy. We are not interested in negotiating with the US. The US did not keep its commitments under the nuclear deal. We had a US deal and the US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last?”.
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“We need to create hope in the region. We have to get rid of despair”, Zarif added.
Iran incurred hundreds of billions of dollars in damages because of current tensions, he further said.
Zarif also claimed that General Soleimani was the single biggest threat to ISIS and his killing was now being celebrated by the terror group and US President Donald Trump.
Earlier in the month, President Trump had ordered the death of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps considered a hero in the country, in order to “stop a war,” not start one.
Iran had termed the US action of “international terrorism” as “extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation”.
General Qasem Soleimani was among the eight people killed in a rocket attack by the US on Baghdad international airport.
On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani dismissed a proposal for new “Trump deal” aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a “strange” offer and criticising Trump for always breaking promises.
Rouhani repeated Iran’s longstanding position that peace can come to the Middle East only when the United States withdraws from the region.
Last week, Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces are stationed in Iraq.
Qasem Soleimani’s killing has been the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the US.
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