TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday lashed out at U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for his call on the Popular Mobilization Forces to go home, saying “They are home. They have not been, nor will they be, waiting for anyone’s orders.”

Tillerson said on Sunday it was time for Iranian-backed militias and their Iranian advisers who helped Iraq defeat Daesh to “go home”, after a rare joint meeting with the leaders of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Zarif who was on a trip of South Africa also said “if they (Popular Mobilization Forces) had waited for orders from Tillerson or the government of America, we should have had Daesh in Baghdad and Erbil today.”
 
“Exactly what country is it that Iraqis who rose up to defend their homes against ISIS return to?” Zarif also asked in a tweet late on Sunday.

“Shameful US FP (foreign policy), dictated by petrodollars,” the chief Iranian diplomat added in his tweet.

Zarif says: “Shameful US FP (foreign policy), dictated by petrodollars”.

Earlier on Sunday, Zarif also said even the staunchest allies of the U.S. have voiced their opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies on the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and Washington’s possible withdrawal from it.

He then pointed to Tillerson’s trip to Saudi Arabia, saying, “Unfortunately, the Americans do not want to rectify their viewpoint [and understand] that Iran is a source of stability and peace as well as a campaigner against terrorism in the region.”

The Iranian foreign minister expressed regret that U.S. allies have been the root cause of instability and crisis in the region and said the Americans and world people are becoming aware of the fact that the wrong U.S. approaches have greatly backfired on Washington itself.

Zarif urged U.S. politicians to “correct their wrong views as soon as possible and stop supporting Saudi Arabia in killing Yemeni children and the elderly” to prevent more damage to the region.

SP/PA