“Iran is the most powerful, independent and political and military might in the region. And this independence bothers the US policy makers,” Sadria said in an interview with the Tehran Times.
Tension has been rising between Iran and the United States since President Donald Trump ordered US pullout from the multilateral 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and ordered sanctions against Iran. The conflict intensified as the US ended waivers for buyers of the remaining importers of the Iranian oil last month.
The Trump’s White House has said the purpose behind such sanctions campaign is to bring Iran to the negotiating table.
However, Sadria, a psychoanalyst, said, “You cannot order a powerful and independent country. So, you are forced to negotiate with it which is not a desire of the US policy makers.”
He added that the US is seeking to diminish the power and independence of Iran.
However, he said, “So far, they have not succeeded.”
“Maybe economically, and I emphasize maybe, they have caused some challenges for the Iranian society, but Iran’s political will and military power and also independence have not been reduced,” the leading scholar stated.
‘US seeks to revive and maintain unipolarism’
Sadria also said that the unipolar world has been seriously challenged yet the United States is working hard to revive and maintain it.
Washington has faced an “independent and powerful” Iran which is an obstruction to the White House to make decisions for the Middle East.
He also said that Russia and China have also been challenging unipolarism of the US
“In the last 20 years, Russia has succeeded to boost its capacity of decision-making which was weakened during the tenure of Boris Yeltsin [former Russian president]. But Putin has been successful in this respect. Today, Russia is able to adopt a policy and implement it. Crimea is the biggest example. The Kremlin adopted a policy and implemented it despite all the pressure and sanctions,” he explained.
Commenting on China’s role in challenging US hegemony, he said China has had the power to force Washington to recognize its capacities and possibilities which could bother the US economy.
‘US seeks to generate revenues through sale of weapons’
Sadria also said that the United States is seeking to generate money through selling weapons to certain countries in the region.
“I think the US administration today is seeking to reduce the weakness of its economy. As for many administrations before this one, one of the easiest and fastest ways to generate revenue is the weapons industry and selling arms and weapons.”
He noted that weapons industry of the US has two components: One is the weapons and military equipment and the other is the human resources or the personnel and military experts or the mercenaries.
“Sending of troops to another region requires the agreement of Congress, but sending mercenaries does not need that,” he stated.
He added, “It has been announced officially that the US has sent 1,500 troops to the region, but there are many more mercenaries who accompany the very sophisticated military equipment without any official permission.”
So, Trump is making money through both selling weapons and sending troops and mercenaries.
Claiming an Iranian threat, the Trump administration declared on Friday an emergency to bypass Congress and expedite billions of dollars in arms sales to various countries -- including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement and put the value of the sales at $8.1 billion.
Interview by: Negar Asadi
MNA/TT