Negotiating with the US is ‘idiotic’ says senior Iranian official

Al-Arabia – To negotiate with the US would be “idiotic,” said the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.

“Negotiating with an individual who does not stand by any of his commitments is idiotic and a sign of weakness and helplessness,” said Shamkhani, presumably referring to US President Donald Trump.

He added: “Today, with the exemplary resistance displayed by the people of Iran, our enemies have realised that they cannot force Iran to accept humiliation by magnifying the imaginary ghost of war.”

Shamkhani, who was minister of defense 1997-2005 and is a military advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has made similar remarks in the past. On 21 June, he said that Iran does not take US President Donald Trump seriously, adding that the US “economic war” against Iran has failed to achieve its targets.

His recent comments come during heightened tensions between Iran and the US and its allies.

On June 20 an Iranian surface-to-air missile downed a US military drone in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

On Tuesday, the commander of US regional forces General Kenneth McKenzie said that a US warship may have brought down two Iranian drones in a stand-off in the Arabian Gulf last week.Last Update: Wednesday, 24 July 2019 KSA 14:26 – GMT 11:26