A day after Joe Biden wrapped up his first Middle East tour as president, Iran accused the US of fueling regional tensions.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has accused the United States of trying to stoke tensions in the Middle East through “Iranophobia,” a charge that comes a day after Joe Biden wrapped up his first tour of the region as US president.
“The US is once again trying to create tensions and crises in the region by relying on the failed policy of Iranophobia,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Khanani said in a statement on Sunday.
The statement said the US was “the first country to deploy a nuclear bomb, that it continuously interferes in the affairs of other countries, starts armed conflicts and sells huge amounts of weapons in the region”.
Referring to Washington’s continued support for Iran’s arch-enemy Israel, Kanani said the US was “the main participant in the ongoing occupation in the Palestinian lands, the regime’s daily crimes against the Palestinians and apartheid.”
The Iranian government’s comments came after Biden visited Israel and rival Saudi Arabia, his first trip as US president aimed at countering Iranian influence in the Middle East region.
At a summit in Jeddah that brought together six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, Biden promised Arab leaders that Washington would not withdraw from the region.
“We are not going to walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” he said.
Earlier this week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi promised a “harsh and deplorable response” if the US and its allies made a “mistake” regarding Iran.
In joint statements issued during Biden’s visit to Israel, as well as to Jeddah, there was an emphasis on US-led efforts to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon.
In its statement, Iran’s foreign ministry renewed Tehran’s pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons and rejected “false accusations” made by the US that it has “turned a blind eye” to Israel’s nuclear program for decades.
Israel is widely believed to be the only power in the Middle East that possesses dozens of nuclear weapons but refuses to declare them or allow international inspection.
The joint statement, signed in Jeddah, also focused on the “growing threat” posed by unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Iran.
On Friday, Iran unveiled ships and submarines capable of carrying armed drones.
Washington has accused Tehran of trying to sell armed drones to Russia to be used in the war in Ukraine. Iran denies the claim, saying it will do nothing to escalate the conflict.
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