Regarding recent comments made by the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in a conference on the Middle East in Bahrain, Larijani said that Gates' remarks are apparently aimed at striking a kind of regional balance.
"It is interesting that while the US believes in unilateralism on the international scene, it subscribes to regional balance on the regional level. If balance is good on a regional scale, why should it not be equally good on the international level?" he exclaimed.
Iran's former top nuclear negotiator has said the US-sought sanctions against Iran will fail to ensure its interests in the long run.
Ali Larijani advised the US officials not to involve themselves in a new challenge which would arguably bring them no benefit.
"The United States is now talking about illogical steps like sanctions against Iran, which are unlikely to produce results of any significance to its long-term interests," Larijani told Iran's Press TV.
Commenting on the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report on Iran's nuclear issue, Larijani stated that the Americans have admitted it was a mistake to believe Iran was seeking nuclear bombs; in other words, they have partially corrected their past mistakes.
"The US officials want to steer the findings of this report in a direction that would leave their hands open for other adverse actions like putting more pressure on Iran," he added.
Larijani said the NIE report was more an exercise in lecturing than an intelligence report, adding while it provides recommendations for politicians, it is evidently deficient in terms of facts.
Larijani criticized Bush's remarks to the effect that Iran should not have access to nuclear know-how, noting that such a view was not workable because the enrichment right is based on Article Four of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to which Iran is a signatory.
"Iran is currently in talks with ElBaradei and the EU Foreign Policy Chief Javiar Solana, and we can work together without paying any attention to the propaganda campaign being waged against Iran. We are making efforts to resolve things," he stated.
Regarding recent comments made by the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in a conference on the Middle East in Bahrain, Larijani said that Gates' remarks are apparently aimed at striking a kind of regional balance.
"It is interesting that while the US believes in unilateralism on the international scene, it subscribes to regional balance on the regional level. If balance is good on a regional scale, why should it not be equally good on the international level?" he exclaimed.
Rejecting Gates' claim that Iran is a threat to the region, Larijani said that all the ongoing threats and troubles have actually started since the US intrusion into the region.
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