solhkhabar | Peace International News Agency Peace International News Agency , Peace News , International Agency News of Peace
President of the Campaign for Peace Disarmament and Common Security Joseph Gerson made the remarks in an interview exclusive with IRNA.
In response to a question regarding National Security Advisor of the US John R. Bolton's act to deploy US aircraft carrier Lincoln to the Persian Gulf, Gerson said: 'This was total nonsense, grandstanding. The deployment of the Abraham Lincoln was announced more than a month ago.'
He added: 'It is standard operational procedure for the Navy, even if it is an expression of U.S. militarism and geostrategic ambition and policing.'
'Clearly Bolton was seeking to intimidate Iranians and to help create a political climate in the U.S. that would support some forms of U.S. military intervention in Iran,' he noted.
He reiterated the fact that the U.S. people do not want another U.S. war in the Middle East, saying: 'If Iran does not respond militarily, and responds with patient good sense, it will undercut Bolton’s and his allies’ power and influence.'
Elaborating on US unilateral withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Gerson said: 'Trump has violated the JCPOA. This accelerates the alienation of the U.S. from many European nations and reduces respect for the United States internationally.'
'For the mid to longer term, this will hurt the United States in the world. So, too, will its bullying regime-change oriented sanctions directed against Iran,' he added.
'Whether the sanctions will succeed will depend on the response of the Iranian people and the degree to which they are supported or opposed by other nations, American expert reiterated.
Answering a question on the impact of US anti-Iran decision to zero Iran oil exports on the regional and international peace, Gerson said: 'Applying sanctions to countries like Japan, China and India will not win the U.S. friends. Peoples have long memories, and this will alienate many from the U.S. Additionally, the sanctions could be used to build support for future military action.'
He noted: 'I think it is imperative that Iran not respond to U.S. provocations. Even a small naval or air incident could easily escalate into a major war in which there would be no winners and potentially many hundreds of thousands of victims, if not more.'
On the reasons behind US blacklisting Iranian official armed forces (the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC]), he said: 'At root, there is a power struggle going on over which nation will become the regional hegemon.'
He went on to say, 'With its overt and covert military actions from Syria and Lebanon to Yemen, the Iranian government is challenging U.S. and Saudi regional hegemony, which has long been reinforced by Israel.'
'Rather than any side continuing to pursue hegemony, we would do much better if common security diplomacy could be pursued.'
'Even the U.S. and the Soviet Union were able to pursue détente diplomacy and pull themselves back from the brink of nuclear annihilation,' he said, referring to what Gandhi said, with an eye for an eye for an eye, we’ll soon all be blind.
For much of the interview he pointed to US new choice to restrict Iran Nuclear activities which were allowed under JCPOA and also Iran decision to walk out of some JCPOA restrictions, Gerson said: 'I have just returned from meetings at the United Nations on the occasion of the NPT PrepCom.'
'There are concerns that Iran might withdraw from the NPT. Doing so would reinforce the militarists here in the United States, be used to justify military intervention (even though the U.S and other nuclear powers are in violation of the NPT) and it could serve as a nail in the coffin of the NPT,' he noted.
He said that the collapse of the NPT would spur global nuclear proliferation and increase the likelihood that somewhere in the world, during some crisis or war, nuclear weapons would actually be launched, with the potential of ending all life on the planet as we know it.
'Restraint and creative diplomacy are the ways to avoid a disaster for both Iran and the United States,' he added.
9376**1416
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish