Reporting by PMOI/MEK
New York, September 23, 2019—The 2019 United Nations General Assembly in New York begins this week and the Iranian regime is experiencing an unprecedented atmosphere of international isolation.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conducted a number of interviews on Sunday setting the stage on how the United States will be expressing its position vis-à-vis Iran, specifically highlighting the fact that Washington is at the beginning of its sanctions campaign targeting the mullahs’ regime and the terrorist-designated Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Secretary Pompeo also used strong terms in reference to Iranian regime Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“There is ample evidence that he has lied,” Sec. Pompeo said to CBS’ Face The Nation in regards to Zarif’s denial of Iran’s role in the September 14 attack on Saudi oil facilities. “You saw the Saudis show these were Iranian systems built and manufactured inside of Iran… I don’t know why anyone listens to the Iranian foreign minister. He has nothing to do with Iranian foreign policy and he has lied for decades. It’s not even worth responding to him. It’s beneath the dignity of anyone in the world to listen to someone who repeatedly makes the claim that the Houthis launched this attack.”
Former U.S. secretary of state John Kerry also pointed the finger at Iran for the Saudi attacks.
“You’ve got to be really clear and honest about what is happening here. I believe Iran, one way or the other, was behind the attack that took place. That to me is obvious. It’s also obvious this has to be denied and it will be denied right now because they need the plausible deniability,” he said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described the attack on Saudi Arabia’s Aramco oil facilities as a “turning point” for the region.
In their own wards, senior #Iran regime officials are explaining how the mullahs' apparatus was behind the recent attacks on Saudi oil facilities.https://t.co/taBJonG7SO
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 19, 2019
To add insult to injury for the mullahs’ regime, the U.S. has denied visas to a significant number of Tehran’s delegation members, downsizing the group to an unprecedented low.
The U.S. has not issued visas for the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, the Foreign Director General for American Affairs, chief of protocols for the office of Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani, the Foreign Ministry’s chief of protocols, deputies of Rouhani’s office who normally handle Rouhani’s meetings during his visits abroad and especially to New York. Also, no members of Iran’s media delegation have been granted visas.
Reports also indicate that the Trump administration intends to use the UNGA event to present its case displaying Iran’s direct role in the Saudi attacks.
As crises continue to escalate for Tehran, Zarif portrayed the regime’s desperation in an interview with CNN, saying Rouhani may be willing to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran would be ready to accept permanent monitoring of its nuclear sites in return for sanctions reliefs.
On Monday morning, as international delegations continue to arrive in New York, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson officially held Iran responsible for the Saudi oil facilities attack, adding London will work with Washington and European allies on a joint response.
“The UK is attributing responsibility with a very high degree of probability to Iran for the Aramco attacks. We think it very likely indeed that Iran was indeed responsible,” Johnson told reporters on a plane to the UNGA in New York.
“We will be working with our American friends and our European friends to construct a response that tries to deescalate tensions in the Gulf region.”
The Houthi’s claim of responsibility was “implausible,” considering the scale, sophistication and range of the attack being inconsistent with their capabilities, a UK government official said to Reuters.
“It is implausible it wouldn’t have been authorized by the Iranian government,” the official said.
Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi, head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), had described Tehran’s brazen attack as an “act of war.”
The clerical regime’s simultaneous missile and drone attacks from inside #Iran on oil installations in Saudi Arabia is an act of war. #FreeIranhttps://t.co/aBFN3HndB6 pic.twitter.com/6wGXVcanaS
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) September 18, 2019
