Getting his turn to speak on Zoom to the U.S. General Assembly today in New York, 60-year-old Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called U.S. sanctions “a new way of war with nations of the world,” saying it was inhumane to impose sanctions during a global pandemic. Last time anyone checked, former President Donald Trump imposed sanctions May 18, 2018, over two years before the World Health Organization [WHO] declared a global pandemic March 11, 2020. WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyseus waited four months to declare a global pandemic to protect China from fallout on the Chinese economy. Raisi, who says he wants to resume talks on the now defunct Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] in the next few weeks, wants President Joe Biden to acquiesce to 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khemenei, lifting all U.S. sanctions imposed by Trump
Raisi has no problem with Iran fomenting proxy war in the Middle East, using Yemen’s Houthi rebels to battle Saudi Arabia. Since 2015, Iran has attacked the Kingdom, shooting drones-and-Cruise missiles on the tarmac of Riyadh’s International Airport. “What is seen in our region today proves that no only the hegemonist and the idea of hegemony, but also the project of imposing Westernized identity have failed miserably,” Raisi said. Raisi know that whatever Western identity’s left in Iran, it’s a left over from Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, whose government was toppled Dec. 3, 1979. Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei turned back on the clock on all the Shah’s progress with education, science and the arts, returning Iran back to Medieval times, imposing strict Sharia law. So when Raisi talks about Western influence, Iran had it before Dec. 3, 1979.
Raisi talks like a tough rooster to the U.N. General Assembly, rubber-stamping the hardcore stance of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Today, the U.S. does not get to exit Iraq and Afghanistan but is expelled,” Raisi said on Zoom to the General Assembly. “Today, the world doesn’t care about “America First” or “America is Back,” Raisi said, referring to slogans used by Trump and Biden. Biden’s America’s Back, attempts to undo any damage done by Trump’s American First foreign policy. Biden thought he’d receive a hero’s welcome after Trump’s last four years, realizing, as Raisi said, the U.N. members don’t care about his new anti-Trump slogan. Rais wants to resume talks with the P5+1 but only if the U.S. agrees to end all sanctions related to Trump. Biden has a big quandary, knowing that lifting sanctions would invite Iran to take more aggressive actions in the Middle East.
Raisi promises to be a tough negotiator when the P5+1 resume talks in Vienna, demanding that the U.S. end all economic or trade sanctions before Iran reverts back to uranium limits of 3.5% specified in the July 15, 2021 JCPOA. Ending sanctions would once again give Iran the green light to run amok in the Mideast and North Africa. Prosecuting a proxy war with Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia. Iran has been responsible for Limpet mine attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, always denying involvement in malign activities. Iran is the No. 1 supplier to Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon. So when Trump decided to cancel the JCPOA, it was to get leverage on Iran to stop its proxy wars and attacks on commerce in the Gulf. Raisi’s going to be a tough customer because he’s a rubber stamp of Ayatollah Ali Khemeni.
Raisi knows he’s a heartbeat away from losing his job if he deviates one iota from Khamenei’s hard-line position. “The Islamic Republic considers the useful talks whose ultimate outcome is the lifting of all oppressive [U.S.] sanctions,” Raisi said today at the U.N. Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javid Zarif, who negotiated with former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry the JCPOA, is no where to be found after running afoul with Khaemenei. Zarif, in a moment of clarity, criticized Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as having too much say in Iran’s foreign policy. That was the end of Zarif. Raisi said Trump’s actions in a pandemic years “were crimes against humanity during the coronavirus pandemic.” Raisi knows there was no pandemic in 2018, only Iran firing Cruise missiles at the Riyadh International Airport. Trump needed some way to stop Iran from running amok.
Reverting back to politics as usual, Raisi blamed the U.S. for what he called “inhumane” sanctions on the Persian Nation, never admitting the kind of malign activities that made the Persian Gulf and treacherous waterway. Raisi wants to the U.S. to end all sanctions first but he’s not willing to stop his proxy wars with Yemen’s Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia and Israel. Like the original JCPOA, there’s no verification provision for uranium enrichment nor is there any enforcement mechanism. So when Raisi talks about U.S. inhumane treatment, he takes no responsibility for Iran’s proxy wars and attacks on oil tankers or refineries. “The United States remains committed to preventing Iran for gaining a nuclear weapon,” Biden said today at the U.N. General Assembly. Returning to nuke talks in Vienna won’t be easy with Iran continuing its proxy wars against Saudi Arabia and Israel.
