A US senator who reportedly advises US President Donald Trump’s White House on foreign policy has repeated baseless allegations against Iran, claiming that Tehran poses danger to the security of the United States.
“The policy of the United States should be regime change in Iran,” said Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton, Politico reported Sunday.
Cotton made the comments as the White House was busy devising a “comprehensive Iran policy,” as Stuart Jones, the acting assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, told The Associated Press last month.
Meanwhile, senior officials and key allies of the president were reportedly calling for “regime change” in Iran.
Trump, who recently clinched an arms deal with Saudi Arabia, accuses Tehran of destabilizing the Middle East, despite the monarchy’s aggression against the impoverished Yemen, promotion of the Takfiri Wahhabi ideology, and funding Daesh terrorists in Syria and Iraq.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said earlier this month that the US has always sought to bring about “regime change” in Iran, but has always failed to do so.
“Do not look at the bluster of this guy who has just come [to office as president] in America. These [anti-Iran claims] are not new. These have been there since day one, but their language and tone has changed,” said the Leader in a meeting with families of martyrs of the Iranian Army, Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and police force on June 18.
At a recent testimony about the US State Department’s budget, Secretary Rex Tillerson also appeared to endorse “regime change.”
Former US President Barack Obama said Washington is not seeking "regime change" during a speech at the United Nations in 2013.
Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services committee, further voiced support for a combination of economic, diplomatic and covert actions against Tehran.
Like other GOP members, Cotton (pictured above) opposed Obama’s participation in negotiations with Tehran along with other world powers, which finally yielded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna on July 14, 2015.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.