Envoy Challenges U.S. to Declassify Alleged Iran Intel

Date: 17 May 2019 - 22:12

News ID: ۶۶۰۸۳

NEW YORK (Dispatches) -- With tensions rising between Iran and the U.S., Iran said war is not an option but real diplomacy is impossible with the United States.
The U.S. already has sent more military units to the Middle East after alleged threats from Iran. President Trump told his acting defense secretary he does not want war.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, told CBS News on Thursday that he believed Trump's comments on Thursday were genuine. "I believe that President Trump does not want war," Ravanchi said.
But Ravanchi said the U.S. is using flawed intelligence, and pointed to one key adviser's past support of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which was precipitated by incorrect claims that Saddam Hussein had "weapons of mass destruction."
Ravanchi flatly denied U.S. intelligence warnings that an Iranian commander ordered militias in Iraq to prepare to attack Americans there, and questioned whether the U.S. really has satellite photos showing what analysts say are containers for short-range ballistic missiles being loaded on boats.
"We do not fire missiles out of small boats," Ravanchi said, adding, "As long as they cannot share those information with the general public which we call fake intelligence, I think there is no utility in saying that these information are credible."
"If they have credible evidence and information, why don’t they declassify them and make it known to the American people and to the people of the world?” he added.
Ravanchi touched on the U.S. military buildup in the region as he dismissed requests by American officials for dialogue with the Islamic Republic.
"They want to have the stick in their hands, try to intimidate Iran and at the same time calling for a dialogue. What type of dialogue is this?" he said.
"Nobody knows what’s going to happen as long as there are armada in our region, there are fleets in our region, there are bombers in our region, and the question that should be asked is why these armada are in the region?” he added.
Iran has dismissed the U.S. military buildup as "psychological warfare" designed to intimidate it, and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said this week that Tehran would not negotiate with the United States on another nuclear deal and such talks would be "poison".
A senior Iranian military official on Friday said Trump is dishonest, stating that Washington is calling for talks while "holding a gun" at Tehran.
"The actions of American leaders in exerting pressure and launching sanctions ... while speaking of talks, is like holding a gun at someone and asking for friendship and negotiations," Rasoul Sanai-Rad, a political deputy of the armed forces command, said.
"The behavior of American leaders is a political game which consists of threats and pressure while showing a willingness to negotiate in order to present a peaceful image of themselves and fool public opinion," Sanai-Rad said.