‘Tillerson’s trip to Mideast an attempt to create united front against Iran’

Rasa - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to the Middle East is an attempt to create a united front against Iran, says Brian Becker, an American political commentator and antiwar activist.

News ID: 433380

Date: 24 October 2017 - 20:03

RNA - Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition, a protest umbrella group consisting of many antiwar and civil rights organizations, made the remarks in a phone interview on Monday.

Tillerson is on a trip to the Middle East where he has visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with reports in American media saying he is trying to find a diplomatic solution to the regional standoff between Riyadh and Doha.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates cut their diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing Doha of sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing the region.

The Saudi-led bloc has also imposed sanctions against the tiny Persian Gulf country, including restrictions on Qatari aircraft using their airspace. Qatar’s only land border with Saudi Arabia has also been blocked as a result.

“Rex Tillerson’s trip to the Middle East is an attempt to overcome any contradictions between Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iraq, not because the Trump State Department seeks to build peaceful relations in the Middle East, but rather to create a united front directed against Iran,” Becker said.

“I believe these efforts will fail. I believe the United States will be exposed to the major powers in the world and more importantly to the people of the world as having violated the letter of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in any spirit of peaceful relations between different states on the basis of mutual respect and equality,” he stated.

“And as the consequence, it will be the United States, not Iran that will find itself increasingly isolated on the world stage,” he added.

Last week, Trump refused to certify the nuclear agreement with Iran, and warned he might ultimately terminate it, in defiance of other world powers and undermining a landmark victory of multilateral diplomacy.

Trump’s speech signaled a major shift in US policy and detailed a more confrontational stance toward Iran over its civilian nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

“It is quite evident now that the Trump administration at all levels is attempting to exert maximum pressure on Iran. Their goal is to create a stage of confrontation with Iran. They are now carrying out numerous provocations,” Becker said.

“First and foremost, being President Trump’s decision to not recertify the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), even though Iran by all accounts and by the accounts of international monitors, including the IAEA, is fully compliant with its end of the agreement,” the analyst noted.

Source: Press TV

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