Iran welcomes the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, saying foreign powers will no longer have an excuse for their military presence in the region.
According to Iranian media, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said: “The Islamic Republic believes that today there are no more pretexts for military invasions in the region by foreign forces in the name of the war on terror.”
He added: “We hope that this development puts an end to war and conflict and the death of innocent people and leads to the establishment of peace in the region.”
Mehmanparast said bin Laden’s assassination proves that a large-scale military operation was not in fact required to deal with a single individual.
The ministry spokesman said that the Islamic Republic condemns any form of terrorist activity in the world “such as the systematic terrorism carried out by the Zionist regime.”
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, also reacted to bin Laden’s demise, saying: “The U.S. only used bin Laden, Mollah Omar and the Taliban as an excuse to invade Afghanistan.”
“Despite the passage of 10 years since the invasion, they have accomplished nothing substantial, and even this latest news is not yet fully corroborated,” Boroujerdi said. “What is certain is that they used this as a pretext to justify their presence in Afghanistan.”
Osama bin Laden was reportedly killed by a U.S.-led operation last night in Pakistan.
U.S. President Barack Obama announced that a group of Special Forces killed bin Laden near Islamabad and that his remains are now in U.S. custody. It has since been reported that bin Laden was given a burial at sea.
Obama said White House security had informed him last August that they had gained certain intelligence that might lead to bin Laden’s discovery. When that information bore fruit last week, the order was issued to take out the leader of Al-Qaeda.
Pakistan announced that the operation was carried out at 1:30 am and included both choppers and ground forces. It said Pakistani and U.S. forces collaborated in the operation.
The U.S. has put all its embassies on alert for possible retaliation for the death of the Al-Qaeda leader.
