Stephen Lendman

Unrelenting US anti-Iranian hostility persists. Media repeated propaganda highlights it.

Tehran remains a strategic Washington enemy, intending new sanctions, wrongfully claiming its legitimate ballistic missile tests violate last year’s nuclear agreement.

Security Council Resolution 1929 only prohibits Iranian development of missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads. Tehran has none, has no plans to develop any. No evidence suggests otherwise.

It’s tests are entirely legitimate, in full compliance with Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) terms. Claims otherwise are false.

US imposition of sanctions will constitute a serious JCPOA breach - showing Washington was never serious about terms it agreed to. Its sordid history shows treaties and other deals consummated systematically violated, spurious reasons given.

Was Washington complicit in Saudi warplanes terror-bombing Tehran’s Yemeni embassy? Did it provide Riyadh with precise coordinates and OK the attack?

Repeated provocations bode ill for US/Iranian relations. Washington accused Iran of firing rockets in the Strait of Hormuz near near Western warships and commercial vessels, including the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.

What could Tehran hope to gain by provoking Washington and other Western nations? Nothing indicates its intention to do so. Rapprochement is sought, not confrontation.

Easily faked US released video footage reportedly showed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard “fast inshore attack craft” firing rockets on December 26.

At the time, Fifth Fleet spokesman Commander Kevin Stephens said rockets “passing coalition ships and commercial traffic within an internationally recognized maritime traffic lane is unsafe, unprofessional and inconsistent with international maritime law.”

A US Central Command statement called Iran’s actions “highly provocative.” Tehran debunked the spurious accusation, explaining its naval forces conducted no Strait of Hormuz exercises at the time.

Revolutionary Guard spokesman Ramezan Sharif said “(t)he publication of such false news under the present circumstances is akin to psychological warfare.”

Revolutionary Guard public relations chief General Ramezan Sharif stressed Iranian naval forces conducted no drills near or in the Hormuz Strait at the time Washington made its spurious accusation.

No evidence indicates Iranian provocations against regional countries or US forces. Claiming otherwise assures continued hostile relations by Washington toward the Islamic Republic.

Given current US-destabilized regional conditions, Iran intends enhancing its legitimate missile capability for national security reasons.

President Hassan Rohani ordered accelerated development to protect the Islamic Republic from external threats, mainly from Washington and Israel.

Its best defense is military strength. At the same time, it hasn’t attacked another country in centuries. It threatens none now.

It’s the region’s leading proponent of peace and stability, free from nuclear weapons. US-led NATO, Israel and rogue Arab states threaten greater violence and chaos than already.

-###-

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.