Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi censured US Vice President Mike Pence for trying to frame diplomatic visits of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as "destabilizing activities", deploring that Washington is tapping into every chance to spread hate-speech against Tehran. RNA - Mousavi said the White House officials seize every opportunity to distort the reality and spread propaganda.
Zarif has traveled to Venezuela to take part in the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Coordinating Bureau (CoB) in Caracas, Mousavi said, adding, “But unfortunately, US officials are using every opportunity to spread propaganda and distort the reality.”
A day before Zarif’s departure from New York for the Latin American country, Pence said "that Iran's destabilizing activities extend well beyond the Middle East”.
Late on Friday, before leaving New York for Caracas, Zarif said that he would participate in a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Venezuela.
“Of course, I will use the opportunity to hold talks with the Venezuelan officials on the economic cooperation between the two sides, and on how the Islamic Republic can help restore peace to the country," he said.
The US is backing coup in Venezuela, and Washington has been an outspoken supporter of opposition leader Juan Guaido who abruptly proclaimed himself “interim president” in January and later on April 30 orchestrated a failed coup against the government with backing from the White House.
As a result, Washington is against any country with friendly ties with the legitimate government of Venezuela.
According to Fars News Agancy, Russia, Iran, China, Turkey and numerous more countries have condemned the move and supported democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro has slammed Guaido as a US puppet, stating that he is a tool in Washington's efforts to forcibly change the government in Venezuela.
The US officials repeatedly noted that Washington hasn't ruled out a "military option" in resolving the Venezuelan political crisis. Guaido also hasn't ruled out such an option and has even requested consultations with the US Southern Command.
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