Iran accused the U.S. of being the “biggest sponsor of terrorism,” just days after the U.S. State Department’s annual report on terrorism labelled Iran as the “most active sponsor of terrorism.”
ISNA reports that Ramin Mehmanparast, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, condemned the accusations brought against Iran in the State Department’s annual report, saying that the U.S. supports Israel, which is “the most active supporter of terrorism in the world.”
The U.S. State Department’s annual report cites Iran’s support of paramilitary groups in the Middle East and Central Asia in 2010. The report says that by supporting such groups as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Taliban in Afghanistan and paramilitary groups in Iraq, Iran is blocking the path to peace and democracy and threatens economic stability in the Persian Gulf.
Mehmanparast reacted to these statements by saying: “If you look into how Al-Qaeda was created, and how the U.S. stayed connected with them and supported them, it proves that such actions by the U.S. have promoted the growing spread of terrorism in the world.”
He added that Iran is “one of the biggest victim’s of terrorism” and has worked with the international community to fight against terrorism.
Iran was first put on the U.S. list of terrorist sponsors in 1984.
However, Iran has challenged the U.S. allegations and insists that the groups cited by the U.S. represent those who have been the target of foreign attacks and are in the process of “legitimate resistance.”
