Coming off his recent re-election victory, President Hassan Rouhani didn’t take long to voice his grievances with President Trump’s trip overseas. Mr. Rouhani claimed that he remained open to discussions with the United States, but soon took the opportunity to BLAST President Trump’s Saudi-American summit meeting.
“Mr. Trump arrived in the region at the time when he saw 45 million Iranians participating in the elections,” Mr. Rouhani said. “Then he visited a country that I doubt knows the definition of elections. The poor things have never seen a ballot box.
Rouhani said he had hopes that “one day Saudi Arabia chooses this path” but went on to label President Trump’s visit as “just a show.”
So which one is it? If Rouhani doesn’t approve of President Trump visiting Saudi Arabia, how does he expect the country to go the route of democracy?
Rouhani continued his jabs by claiming President Trump’s historical meeting would not “have any political or practical value.” This statement comes in direct contrast to the staggering $110 billion arms deal made between the United States and Saudi Arabia during President Trump’s visit. Mr. Rouhani continued his dissension by rejecting American warnings about testing missiles, claiming that Iran’s weapons were solely defensive and would be tested whenever they deemed necessary.
“Iran and America have gone through lots of ups and downs in the past 39 or 40 years. They have used numerous measures against Iran, all leading to failure,” Mr. Rouhani said. “Americans were only successful in their engagement with the Iranian nation during the nuclear talks.”
Despite Mr. Rouhani’s apparent willingness to maintain a relationship with the United States, his recent words tell a much more combative story. If Iran is to be considered a beacon for democracy in the Middle East, maybe now’s the time for its new President to stop criticizing America and its leaders.
(via: Liberty Writers)
