Trump's America First Policy Only Brought U.S. Global Backlash: Zarif
TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has slammed U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called 'America First' agenda as a "mistake,” saying his administration’s failure to honor international commitments under such an approach has only created a global backlash against Washington.
Zarif made the remarks in an interview with London-based al-Araby al-Jadeed media outlet that was published on Tuesday.
He was asked about a recent tweet by Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, on French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent call for the creation of a "real European army” to protect itself against the U.S.
Haass had said "America First has brought us the revival of the spirit of De Gaulle. More evidence of a post-American world.”
Zarif stressed that he agreed with Haass regarding the fallout of Trump’s 'America First' approach.
"Well, I think the United States is an extremely powerful country. The military expenditure of the United States is equal to the military expenditure of all other countries combined. However, the excessive use of any strength leads to its demise and leads to reaction on the part of the international community,” he said.
"President Trump, I think, has committed a grave mistake, as Richard Haass has pointed out. And that is he has tried to project the American military might as well as the American economic might over the ability of the rest of the international community to accept it. And that has created the backlash among U.S. allies, backlash in Europe, backlash elsewhere. So, the America First approach has in fact created this backlash and everybody expected it,” he added.
Zarif also noted that the U.S. has faced global criticism over the Trump administration’s failure to honor international agreements such as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"The U.S. under President Trump believes that it does not need to respect the international law because…it’s too confident of its power,” he said.
And also, Zarif blasted the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for keeping on their anti-Iran rhetoric, and said that should claim responsibility for whatever he says against the Islamic Republic.
"Pompeo should either own what he says, or disown what the U.S. does; can't have it both ways," Zarif wrote on his Twitter page on Monday.
The verbal war between the two officials started when Pompeo insulted Iranians by saying on November 7 that Iran must listen to the U.S. if they want their people to eat.
On Saturday, Zarif tweeted that Pompeo is openly threatening to starve Iranians, which is a crime against humanity, in a desperate attempt to impose U.S. whims on Iran.
***** Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
Zarif made the remarks in an interview with London-based al-Araby al-Jadeed media outlet that was published on Tuesday.
He was asked about a recent tweet by Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, on French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent call for the creation of a "real European army” to protect itself against the U.S.
Haass had said "America First has brought us the revival of the spirit of De Gaulle. More evidence of a post-American world.”
Zarif stressed that he agreed with Haass regarding the fallout of Trump’s 'America First' approach.
"Well, I think the United States is an extremely powerful country. The military expenditure of the United States is equal to the military expenditure of all other countries combined. However, the excessive use of any strength leads to its demise and leads to reaction on the part of the international community,” he said.
"President Trump, I think, has committed a grave mistake, as Richard Haass has pointed out. And that is he has tried to project the American military might as well as the American economic might over the ability of the rest of the international community to accept it. And that has created the backlash among U.S. allies, backlash in Europe, backlash elsewhere. So, the America First approach has in fact created this backlash and everybody expected it,” he added.
Zarif also noted that the U.S. has faced global criticism over the Trump administration’s failure to honor international agreements such as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"The U.S. under President Trump believes that it does not need to respect the international law because…it’s too confident of its power,” he said.
And also, Zarif blasted the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for keeping on their anti-Iran rhetoric, and said that should claim responsibility for whatever he says against the Islamic Republic.
"Pompeo should either own what he says, or disown what the U.S. does; can't have it both ways," Zarif wrote on his Twitter page on Monday.
The verbal war between the two officials started when Pompeo insulted Iranians by saying on November 7 that Iran must listen to the U.S. if they want their people to eat.
On Saturday, Zarif tweeted that Pompeo is openly threatening to starve Iranians, which is a crime against humanity, in a desperate attempt to impose U.S. whims on Iran.
***** Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif