Tehran, May 03: Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says the US has no more pretexts to remain in the region following Washington’s confirmation that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been killed.
“With the killing of Bin Laden, there is no excuse for the US presence in the region,” Salehi said at a press conference in the Qatari capital of Doha on Monday, IRNA reported.
“If the US invaded the region under such a pretext, the problem is over now and they had better pull out of the region immediately and stop the killing of regional people,” he added.
Salehi returned to Iran early Tuesday after a one-day trip to Qatar. During his short stay in Doha, he discussed regional developments and bilateral ties with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Crown Prince Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani.
Salehi referred to the deaths of “tens of thousands” of defenseless people as a result of the US presence in the region and said there was no place for the US presence in the future of the region.
“The public opinion in the region and even the US are not happy with the US presence in the region,” the top Iranian diplomat added.
Salehi pointed out that Iran opposed the US invasion of Afghanistan under the pretext of tracking down and killing bin Laden from the very beginning.
“Our reason was acceptable since the issue of bin Laden was not resolved militarily and he was killed by commando teams.”
US President Barack Obama announced in a televised speech on Sunday that bin Laden was killed by US forces after he was found hiding in a compound in Pakistan.
The announcement of bin Laden’s death comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States.
This is while analysts and military experts believe that the United States had delayed the killing of bin Laden to continue the presence of US-led forces in war-torn Afghanistan, a Press TV correspondent reported.
——–Agencies