The United States and President Trump in particular consider only one “dimension” of convergence with Saudi Arabia, ignoring the “ideological and intellectual” challenges
and costs such ties entail, media adviser to the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC), Commander-in-Chief Hamid Reza Moghadam Far told RT
in an exclusive interview.“That was one of Trump’s senseless moves. He was just seeking to milk this cow and thinking about only business,” Moghadam Far said.
“The
first challenge is that Trump goes to such a country as his first trip
after being elected… That is the behavior shown towards a dictatorial
regime in which democracy is meaningless and no elections take place and
the people have no presence on the scene. The next challenge is that
they claim that they are combatting terrorism. It is no secret that
Saudi Arabia has provided the most support for terrorism.”
The recent naming of Mohammed bin Salman as Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince might be another “outcome of Trump’s visit” amidst internal disputes among Saudi princes and with other Arab countries.
“This
replacement is one of the internal political impacts of the [Trump’s]
visit on Saudi Arabia. I mean the replacement of the crown prince. But
Saudi Arabia is facing certain conditions today that I think the
development would create further problems for the country,” Moghadam Far said, pointing out that this decision would hardly be beneficial for the Saudi people.
While
the appointment might push Saudi Arabia into further radicalization, it
would unlikely lead to an armed conflict with Iran, Moghadam Far
believes, as the Saudi army is “not fit for military action.”
“There
is no possibly of conflict. Today many Arab countries are complaining
about Saudi Arabia’s inexperienced and radical moves. They consider
Saudi Arabia as callow,” Moghadam Far told RT.
“A
number of inexperienced people who are ruling Saudi Arabia lack the
resolve and determination to initiate a war on Iran. They lack the
courage and power. I do not think they will come up with such
conclusion, even if all global powers support them.”
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Saudi
Arabia’s policies in the Middle East only bring instability to the
region and its alliance with the US only diminishes the already
dwindling American power and influence, Moghadam Far believes.
“[The
US policies] definitely have a negative effect. What matters more,
however, is that the US is not as influential a player as it used to be
and it can no longer manipulate regional equations. Today, it does not
enjoy such a sway at all and its influence in the region has waned,” Moghadam Far said.
“It
now has to associate with countries like Saudi Arabia whose negative
role in supporting terrorism, whose dictatorship, and whose dark face is
known to everyone in the region.”
Tehran’s
recent Iranian missile attack on Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)
terrorists in Syria should have weakened the resolve of the Saudis and
other powers to go to war with Iran. A key “message” of the attack was to clearly demonstrate Iranian military capabilities to those who doubted them, Moghadam Far said.
“In
the past, when these missiles were test-fired in Iran, the US and
certain western countries used to usually announce that Iran was lying
that its launches had been successful and tried to create this
impression that Iranians do not have such a capability and their
missiles cannot strike their targets with precision,” he said.
The
strike also demonstrated Iran’s resolve to fight terrorism, rubbishing
usual US accusations that Tehran supports terrorist elements.
“As
in the past, whenever Americans want to mount pressure on Iran, impose
new sanctions and proceed with an issue in the region and beyond, [the
US] accuse Iran of backing terrorism,” Moghadam Far said.
“But
I think that today’s conditions are such that the world’s public
opinion does not accept this. The world has come to realize that the US,
despite leading a coalition against [IS] and terrorism in Syria and
Iraq, Syria in particular, does not fight terrorism in practice and is
in fact is supporting it… They cannot both take an opposite stance
against terrorism and accuse Iran.”
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