Tasnim - An American political analyst dismissed the US government�s claim that Iran has violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), describing it as part of attempts to undermine Iran as an obstacle to the creation of the American-Israeli co-prosperity sphere.





The US administration accuses Iran of breach of the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), as part of policies to �undermine Iran as an obstacle to Israeli expansionism and the creation of the American-Israeli co-prosperity sphere,� Keith Preston, the chief editor and director of attackthesystem.com, told Tasnim in an interview.

The US analyst also likened the repeating accusations to what happened during the period leading up to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, when Iraq was accused of possessing �weapons of mass destruction� by the administration of President George W. Bush.

Mr. Preston was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. He received degrees in Religious Studies, History, and Sociology from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the founder and director of American Revolutionary Vanguard and the chief editor of AttacktheSystem.Com. He has also been a contributor to LewRockwell.Com, Antiwar.Com, Anti-State.Com,Taki�s Magazine, Radix Journal, and AlternativeRight.Com.

Preston is also the author of six books, and was awarded the 2008 Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize by the United Kingdom�s Libertarian Alliance. Keith has been a featured speaker at conferences of the National Policy Institute, H. L. Mencken Club, and Anarchapulco. He has been interviewed on numerous radio programs and internet broadcasts, and appeared as a guest analyst on Russia Today, Press TV and the BBC.

Following is the full text of the interview.

Tasnim: As you know, US President Donald Trump has unveiled a new strategy for Iran, saying it begins with imposing tough sanctions on the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and also accused Iran of proliferation of missiles and weapons. Why, do you think, has Trump focused on efforts to curb Iran�s military capabilities?

Preston: The sectors of the American power elite with whom Donald Trump is the most closely connected are zealously pro-Zionist, and regard Iran as a primary obstacle to Israeli expansionism in the Middle East. The objective of the Israeli right-wing that is represented by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Party is the perpetual expansion of Israel until Israel is able to reclaim what Zionists regards as the biblical �promised land,� the territory extending between the Nile and the Euphrates. This is clearly demonstrated by, among other things, the persistent expansion of the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories and the decades-long history of Israeli incursions into Lebanon. Clearly, Iran stands in the way of this ambition as a major regional power. Additionally, Iran has also provided support for forces such as Hezbollah that have successfully resisted Israel�s incursions into southern Lebanon. Iran is supportive of the Palestinian resistance as well. The objective of right-wing Zionists in the United States is to create an American-Israeli co-prosperity sphere in the Middle East. This is to be achieved in part through the elimination of regimes in the Middle East, such as Iran and Syria, that refuse to be incorporated into the neoliberal Washington Consensus, and which stand in the way of the establishment of such a co-prosperity sphere by the Americans and the Israeli.

Tasnim: While the governments of Syria and Iraq acknowledge that Iran�s genuine supports have helped them defeat the militant groups and the Daesh (ISIL) terrorists, Trump has accused Iran of �fueling sectarian violence in Iraq, and vicious civil wars in Yemen and Syria� in his speech. What is your take on this, considering Trump�s refusal to comment on the role of the US regional ally, Saudi Arabia, in the war on Yemen?

Preston: At present, the Middle East is a focal point for the wider conflict that is emerging between the Western and Eastern powers within the international system. The Western axis is comprised of the United States, NATO, Israel, and the Saudi-led Sunni block in the Middle East. It is the Saudis and their (Persian) Gulf State allies who provide support for the proliferation of the Salafist/Wahhabist ideology throughout the Middle East and in Europe. The Salafists are the principal source of jihadi terrorism in the Middle East at present.

Iran has assumed a leadership role in the resistance to efforts by the Western axis to dominate the Middle East and against Salafist terrorism by supporting the anti-Salafist forces in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. This has had the effect of bringing nations such as Iran and Syria closer to Russia and China, who share a common interest in opposing Salafist terrorism, but who are the primary rivals to the Western axis in the international system. The United States supports Saudi Arabia�s war against Yemen as a means of eliminating Shiite influence in that nation and consequently weakening support for Iran in Yemen. This is part of the wider strategy of eliminating support for the Iranian-led opposition to domination of the Middle East by the Atlanticist-Zionist-Wahhabist axis, and undercutting the influence of the major Eastern powers in the region.

Tasnim: Trump alleges that Iran has committed �multiple violations� of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany). But the International Atomic Energy Agency has explicitly verified Iran�s compliance with the JCPOA in eight successive reports. What makes Trump comment about such technically complicated issue, ignore the UN nuclear agency�s reports, and allow himself to accuse Iran of breaching the deal?

Preston: I wouldn�t venture to guess what Trump�s personal motives are. But he is clearly repeating the line that is being fed to him by elements within the American power elite and national security apparatus that seek to undermine Iran as an obstacle to Israeli expansionism and the creation of the American-Israeli co-prosperity sphere. This is almost an exact repeat of what happened during the period leading up to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, when Iraq was accused of illegally manufacturing so-called �weapons of mass destruction� by the administration of President George W. Bush, even though the evidence against these claims was overwhelming. Just as the objective in 2003 was to eliminate the Iraqi regime and its opposition to domination of the Middle East by the Atlanticist powers, and the creation of a Greater Israel, it would appear that the objective of the US foreign policy establishment at present is to undermine the government of Iran for the same reasons and using similar methods of making false accusations of weapons proliferation.

Tasnim: At the conclusion of his anti-Iran speech, Trump prayed for a future where �American and Iranian, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish� can live in a world free from violence, hatred, and terror. But he himself is known by many for hate-filled speeches and normalization of the language of hatred. What is your take on this issue as an American citizen?

Preston: Those statements are simply pronouncements of obligatory pieties that all heads of state typically repeat as rhetorical tactic. Professed sentiments of that kind have nothing to do with the geopolitical realities involved. The forces within the American elite and within the Middle East with whom the Trump administration is aligned simply regard Iran as an unwanted geopolitical rival, and wish to undermine Iran as a regional power. It�s as simple as that. It has nothing to do with any professed ideals which can be reasonably dismissed as a rhetorical cover.