Iran’s Defense Minster’:

Saudi Crown Prince Acting Under ‘Illusion of Power

TEHRAN (defapress) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has, like many leaders before him, fallen into the trap of the illusion of power, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said.

News ID: 69612

Date: 08 April 2018 - 15:02

During his visit to Moscow, where he headed an Iranian delegation to an international security conference, General Hatami in an interview with RT chided Saudi Arabia’s young leader for his recent anti-Iranian remarks.

“Those words have been said by a man who has little experience in state affairs,” the Iranian official said.

”Once he claimed he could resolve the situation in Yemen in just one week. Yemen is a poor country with little military strength. The war in Yemen is now in its fourth year, and it has become a quagmire for Saudi Arabia.”

Hatami said Mohammad bin Salman’s remarks should be measured against his achievements, which were not particularly spectacular in Yemen.

The Saudi crown prince, Hatami believes, has fallen into the trap of “an illusion of power”, like many other leaders in the past who relied on military strength to achieve their goals.

“Hitler acted under an illusion of power, believing himself to be strong. So did Saddam Hussein (when he attacked Iran in 1980). When the Americans attacked Iraq, they too had this delusion of power and strength. They thought they would occupy Iraq, appoint a new ruler and that would be it. But in all important issues they have failed miserably and plunged the country into the deepest hell,” the general said.

Hatami added that he hopes in time the crown prince will become more experienced and learn how to avoid this trap.

Elsewhere in the interview, General Hatami criticized John Bolton, US President Donald Trump’s incoming hawkish national security adviser, and said, “Mr. Bolton may have not made any strong-worded statements against Iran after his nomination, but his imperialist mindset is a matter of record. All the freedom-loving peoples of the world are well aware of it.”

“This mindset was no different in previous American administrations, only their methods differed. Trump simply represents the true face of American imperialism for everyone to see clearly. He is an obvious treat to peace and security of everyone, not just Iran,” he added.

“But it does not matter who is in charge in the US. Whoever takes the office will pursue the same policies by methods of his preference.”

Commenting on the defeat Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists in Iraq and Syria, General Hatami said the terror group pose a security threat in Afghanistan.

“There is little doubt that Daesh fighters went to Afghanistan, but there is disagreement of how many of them did. Some say as many as 10,000 may be there. The Afghan government says the figure is smaller. But they do operate there with no doubt,” he said.

“Some governments facilitate the withdrawal for the terrorists out of Syria and Iraq and take efforts to preserve the leaders of the terrorists. Our intelligence says those leaders may be smuggled into Afghanistan.”

The general added that Tehran did not expect Daesh to return to its former strength on Afghan soil.

“Afghanistan is quite different from Iraq and Syria and Daesh will not be able to rise in Afghanistan the way it did in Iraq and Syria, unless their sponsors put a lot of resources into it. Unlike the neighbors of Iran and Syria, Afghanistan’s neighbors would be blocking the movements of Daesh fighters across the borders and cut their supply lines. And also Afghan people will not accept that ideology because their culture is different," he explained.

Nevertheless, major players should stay vigilant and not allow the terrorists to rise in some other place, Hatami added.