Stephen Lendman

Iran is falsely accused by Washington, Israel, AIPAC and other dark forces of being the world’s “biggest sponsor of terrorism” - a despicable Big Lie.

It’s the price it pays for 38 years of sovereign independence, free from US dominance, refusing to serve its imperial interests.

On Thursday, Sergey Lavrov praised Iran as a “powerful player” in combating terrorism in Syria, saying:

“What we do now with Iran and those that cooperate with us and the Syrian army is fighting terrorists in Syria.”

“Iran is a powerful player on the ground, legitimately invited by (Assad’s) government” - combating the scourge of US-supported terrorism.

America wages phony war on terrorism. Russia, Iran, Syria and Hezbollah are allied against the scourge Washington, NATO, Israel and their rogue partners in high crimes support.

On March 30, a senior unnamed State Department official lied, accusing Iran of “destabilizing activities in the region…undermin(ing) regional security (and) sponsor(ing) terrorism…”

The same accusations repeat ad nauseam, no corroborating evidence supporting them. The objective is gratuitous Iran bashing, Russia targeted the same way.

On March 30, the right-wing Washington Free Beacon said unnamed State Department officials told the publication that sanctions alone aren’t enough to stop Iran’s production and testing of ballistic missiles.

Claiming they’re banned under international law is false. Tehran’s program is entirely legitimate, its missiles not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

“We’ve got a number of measures, and they're not just sanctions that we engage in to slow down and prevent Iran from advancing its ballistic missile program,” the State Department official added.

A Thursday article quoted CENTCOM commander General Joseph Votel, outrageously calling Iran “the greatest longterm threat to (Middle East) stability.”

He lied, saying it’s “operating in what I call a gray zone, and it’s an area between normal competition between states…just short of open conflict.”

“We need to look at opportunities where we can disrupt (Iran) through military (or other) means.”

“We need to look at opportunities where we can expose and hold them accountable for the things that they are doing.”

Does Washington intend war on Iran? Plans were drawn and readied to implement long ago.

Attacking Iran would risk direct confrontation with Russia. America’s drive for hegemony risks the madness of regional or global war.

-###-

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He 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 WW III."

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

Visit his blog site at http://www.sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.