TEHRAN – Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs said on Saturday that Iran’s policies are based on “wisdom”.

Ali Bagheri Kani made the remarks in reference to protests that erupted in certain cities in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16.

The protests over Mahsa Amini’s death degenerated into violence after thugs used the death of Amini as a pretext to cause chaos in the country.

American officials openly expressed support for the riots. Certain European states, including Germany and Britain, also joined the U.S. in expressing support for the rioters.

“The decision of the Islamic Republic is based on wisdom, as many countries wanted to destabilize Iran. However, our influential role-playing aborted” American wishes, Bagheri Kani said in a seminar entitled “21st Century and the World without U.S. Hegemony”.

Bagheri Kani went on to say that the U.S. is on decline in terms of technological advances and economic indicators in comparison to other competitors and this is acknowledged by experts in the world.

There is also a dispute between Republicans and Democrats on the U.S. and each side holds the other responsible for, he pointed out.

There is also “no good prospects” about what the Americans believe in, and values such as “democracy” in the country is being defied and the environment is degrading, he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he expressed happiness over Iran’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and possible entry into BRICS, an economic bloc grouping Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Bagheri Kani went on to say that the U.S. occupied Iraq and Afghanistan and but occupation of these two countries only led to spread of fear and terrorism.

“In the recent time, both Americans’ decisions and actions, such as their presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, have proven to be ineffective and not constructive,” he said, according to Press TV.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and was forced to leave country in disgrace after 20 years.

Bagheri Kani said the occupation of Afghanistan led to a sharp increase in opium production, rising by 50 times.

Prior to the invasion, opium production was banned by the Taliban, although it still managed to exist.

The U.S. and its allies have been accused of encouraging and aiding opium production and the ongoing drug trafficking within the region.

Only a small fraction of the total opium yield in Afghanistan is destroyed. The international community has also failed to curb heroin production in Afghanistan since the devastating military campaign.

Afghanistan is thought to produce more than 90 percent of the world’s supply of opium, which is then used to make heroin and other dangerous drugs that are shipped in large quantities all over the world. Opium production provides many Afghan communities with an income, in an otherwise impoverished and war-torn country.

Nearly half of the drugs produced in Afghanistan are moved through Pakistan, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

According to UNODC findings, cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan increased by 32 percent over the previous year, to 233,000 hectares – making the 2022 crop the third largest area under cultivation.

Cultivation continued to be concentrated in the southwestern parts of the country, which accounted for 73 percent of the total area, registering the largest crop increase.

In Helmand province, one-fifth of all arable land was dedicated to opium poppy cultivation.

The notorious Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Afghanistan, better known as Daesh in Khorasan Province, is reported to have recently taken over opium production and trafficking.