A former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations accused Tehran on Thursday of promoting sectarianism and seeking to destabilize the Middle East through subverting governments and funding Shia militancy.
Mansour Farhang, who was the Islamic republic’s first ambassador to the UN, said in an opinion letter published on The New York Times’ website that Iranian officials’ criticism of Saudi Arabia for sectarianism and human rights record is “a case of the pot calling the kettle black”.
“Iran is a notorious violator of human rights and promoter of sectarianism. In 2015, nearly 700 at least were executed in Iran,” Farhang wrote in response to a Jan. 10 op-ed penned by the country’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
“Iran’s leaders” want to export their revolution to Arab countries and thus seek to destabilize the region through subversion and propaganda as well as military and economic assistance to Shiite militias in Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon,” Farhang added.
The Syrian Coalition earlier said that “the Iranian regime has become a symbol of chaos, terrorism and aggression, not only in our country but in many countries in the region.”
The Syrian Coalition’s member Ahmed Ramadan suggested in early January holding a conference to bring together the Iranian opposition and Arab political forces to send a message to the world that the Iranian regime does not represent the Iranian people and is a pariah regime inside and outside Iran.
Ramadan pointed out that “Arabs do not oppose the Iranian people but the Iranian regime whose policies have caused much harm to Arabs and to the peoples of the region as a whole.” (Source: Syrian Coalition + Anadolu)
