by Stephen Lendman

Times editors are so consistently hostile to Iran in their one-sided support for Israel's worst crimes it's surprising they gave Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif op-ed space.

He sent a responsible message from Iran everyone needs to read. He indicated important progress in Lausanne in trying to resolve issues over Tehran's well-known peaceful nuclear program.

Suggesting otherwise is red herring cover for Washington's real objectives:

• toppling Iran's government;


• replacing it pro-Western stooges subservient to US and Israeli interests;


• giving America another client state;


• eliminating Israel's main regional rival;


• controlling Iran's vast oil and gas resources;


• exploiting its people; and


• marginalizing and weakening Iran - defying it the right to self-defense.

Iranians aren't about to surrender their sovereign rights. Nor should they. Nor should any nation for any reason.

It's high time the world community no longer tolerates fabricated claims about Tehran's nuclear and other activities.

It's time to normalize relations responsibly. It's time to break free from hostile US/Israeli policies.

It's time to realize mutual cooperation matters more than confrontation and destabilizing maliciousness.

Iran is the region's leading proponent of peace, stability and mutual cooperation among all nations.

America, rogue NATO partners, Israel, Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, and allied despots threaten world peace and security.

Zarif said Iran and P5+1 countries "agreed on parameters to remove any doubt about the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program and to lift international sanctions against Iran."

"But to seal the anticipated nuclear deal, more political will is required. The Iranian people have shown their resolve by choosing to engage with dignity."

"It is time for the United States and its Western allies to make the choice between cooperation and confrontation, between negotiations and grandstanding, and between agreement and coercion."

Vital issues affecting all regional nations need addressing responsibly. Iran is a key Middle East player.

It needs to be part of resolving ongoing wars, chaos and turmoil. "(E)ntire countries are being torn to shreds," Zarif stressed.

"…Iran has weathered the storms of instability caused by this mayhem. But we cannot be indifferent to the unfathomable destruction around us, because chaos does not recognize borders."

Iranian interests and concerns go way beyond nuclear issues, Zarif explained. Good relations with all its neighbors is its top priority, he stressed.

He calls Iranian foreign policy "holistic." Destructive "globalization has rendered all alternatives obsolete," he said.

One nation's interests can't be pursued at the expense of others.

We're all part of the same human race. Ongoing events affect everyone - for better or worse.

"Nowhere are these dynamics more evident that in the wider Persian Gulf region," Zarif explained.

World leaders need to address them responsibly - most of all waging peace, not war.

Iran needs to be included as part "of a collective forum" established to help resolve vexing regional issues.

Ending Yemen's conflict "would be a good place to start," Zarif said. Iran offered a responsible peace plan. It can work if implemented.

It calls for "an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian assistance and facilitation of intra-Yemeni dialogue, leading to the formation of an inclusive, broad-based national unity government," Zarif explained.

More broadly, regional dialogue and engagement "should be based on recognized principles for shared objectives; notably respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states; inviolability of international boundaries; noninterference in internal affairs; peaceful settlement of disputes; impermissibility of threat or use of force; and promotion of peace, stability, progress and prosperity in the region."

Mutual cooperation can benefit all regional nations hugely - far more then endless conflicts against one nation after another without end.

"The world cannot afford to continue to avoid addressing the roots of the turmoil in the wider Persian Gulf region," Zarif stressed.

"This unique opportunity for engagement must not be squandered."

Imagine if US officials, EU ones and Israelis felt the same way. Imagine peace instead of endless wars.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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