Press TV has interviewed Kevin Barrett, an editor with the Veterans Today from Madison, Wisconsin, about remarks made by the Iranian Leader’s Adviser Ali Akbar Velayati in response to US policy in the region.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you think about this latest suggestion by US Secretary of State John Kerry to resolve the missile issue, which Iranian officials say there’s no issue, because it’s Iran’s natural right for self-defense and they will not discuss the matter?

Barrett: Well, I think we’ve got a very clear statement from Iran in response to Kerry now. And it’s great to see that… you’re crossing those ‘truth versus lies redlines’ and pointing out the role of the US in the creation of ISIS (Daesh), which is actually serving the national interest of Israel a lot more than the national interest of the US by destabilizing the region.

But I think that this apparent reaching-out by Kerry to Iran, it’s hard to interpret whether it was reaching out or whether it was another sort of arrogant statement to telling Iran what it’s supposed to be doing. But I think that this clarification from Iran is of course natural and normal and pretty much to be expected.

If John Kerry thought that by working with Iran he was going to get what the arrogant powers, as they’re called, have been seeking in Syria for quite some time, which is this ludicrous project of the symbolic overthrow of Assad. This demonization of foreign leaders is such a childish thing.

The Syrian government and social structure is a lot more than one person, but they made that their purpose. They want to discipline countries by going after leaders who get out of line. They’ve been doing this for a long time.

So, of course obviously Kerry isn’t going to be able to sweet talk Iran into suddenly obeying what the US has been ordering it to do for years and years with no success whatsoever. And I think the statement that the future of Syria needs to be of the affair of Syria’s people, is really the formula that could conceivably lead to some kind of rapprochement and some kind of permanent peace.

Because seriously well-supervised and clearly democratic open elections in Syria in which everyone is allowed to run obviously including President Assad, who saved his country from Daesh, is the way to go here.

So, I think the Iranian leadership has made itself clear and I hope the Americans will listen.

By Press TV