The goal of The Day is to acquaint its readers with a variety of viewpoints. We believe that a newspaper must be a free tribune. The editors do not always share the views expressed in our paper. Today we are publishing the opinion of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Ukraine with regard to the recent interview with William Taylor, the US Ambassador to Ukraine.
“The press service of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Ukraine presents its respects and has the honor to notify the following.
In his interview with The Day, published in issue no. 5 of Feb. 13, 2007, concerning the US’ decision to deploy elements of anti-missile defense systems on the territory of Poland and the Czech Republic, the US Ambassador to Ukraine called the goal of this deployment a response to ‘the threat of nuclear warheads on ballistics missiles from Iran and North Korea’.
We express our protest and deep regret concerning the unfounded statements of the US Ambassador in this interview, reject his allegations, and also make public the following in order to correct public opinion: The US government, in raising the question of deploying elements of anti-missile defense systems in Central Europe, has launched a broad propaganda campaign in connection with this issue and is thus seeking to distract world public opinion from the shameful results of its operation in Iraq. The response to the imaginary threat of nuclear warheads, which do not exist in objective reality and are the product of the imagination of White House leaders, is a completely unfounded argument, and the leaders of a number of countries have already given an adequate reply to this. The respected journalist of The Day also correctly formulated a question in this interview about the fact that the Americans have not managed to convince anyone in favor of their decision. It is worth mentioning that the general White House policy, especially in recent years, is being implemented without feeling any necessity to provide explanations and convince the international community, and this has had terrible and devastating results. The attack on Iraq and Afghanistan is a clear example of such actions and the unilateral policy of the US. The Islamic Republic of Iran has stated many times that it does not have aspirations for nuclear weapons. Such weapons are not humane and cannot guarantee either the domestic or external security of any country. Iran was one of the first states to suggest the creation of a nuclear-free zone in the Near and Middle East.
Thank you for publishing our Embassy’s explanations.”
