Iran accuses the U.S. of causing a “crisis” in the Middle East
Tehran on Sunday accused Washington of causing tensions in the Middle East, a day after US President Joe Biden concluded a tour of Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Washington “has once again resorted to the failed Iran-phobia policy, seeking to create tension and crises in the region,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.
The comments come after Biden on Saturday promised that the United States would “not tolerate any country’s efforts to dominate another in the region through military buildups, forays and/or threats,” in a clear reference to Iran.
Biden’s first visit to the Middle East took place a few days before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tehran on July 19.
Biden, in a speech in the Saudi city of Jeddah at a summit that brought together the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq, assured Arab leaders that Washington would remain fully committed to the Middle East.
“We will not move away and leave a void that China, Russia, or Iran will fill,” Biden said.
After the meeting, a joint statement pledged the leaders to “preserve regional security and stability”.
He also highlighted diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and, in particular, called for greater joint deterrence capabilities “against the growing threat” of unmanned aerial vehicles, a likely reference to Tehran, which on Friday unveiled ships and submarines capable of carrying armed drones.
Tehran, which denies it wants to build a nuclear bomb, rejected comments made in Jeddah on Sunday.
“These false allegations are in line with Washington’s seditious policy … in the region,” Kanani said.
Biden began his regional tour in Israel on Wednesday, before visiting the Palestinian Territories and then flying to Saudi Arabia.
In the Jewish state, Biden signed a security pact that strengthens a common front against Iran, where the president promised to use “all” US might prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Kanani said the pact was a “great sign of US deception and hypocrisy” because it “turns a blind eye to the Zionist regime (Israel) as … the largest holder of the nuclear weapons arsenal in the region .”
It is widely believed that Israel holds the Middle East’s only undeclared nuclear arsenal.
A landmark deal that imposed limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions was undermined in 2018 by the withdrawal of former US President Donald Trump, which led to Iran starting to renounce its commitments. Efforts to revive the deal have stalled since March.
