Spotlight: Iran urges Trump to review U.S. Mideast policies

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said Wednesday that the upcoming U.S. administration should review its policies in the Middle East.

"The next U.S. government's practical policies are important for the Iranian people, as the U.S. government's action will be the criterion to evaluate Washington policies," he said.

The U.S. interference in regional countries' domestic affairs is a key factor which increased violence and extremism in the Middle East, Qasemi was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

The unstable situation of the Persian Gulf region, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, along with the threat of terrorism necessitates an urgent review of U.S. policies, he added.

"The Iranian people and the Islamic republic have had bitter experiences about U.S. policies in the past decades," he said, urging Donald Trump as the U.S. president elect to think of amending U.S. policies vis-a-vis Iran.

In addition, Dr. Foad Izadi, a research fellow at the Faculty of World Studies in Tehran University, touched upon the idiom of "buying politicians" in the United States, saying that, for the first time in the history of the U.S. presidential elections, Trump drew upon the fact that rich people in his country "could buy politicians" for their political and economic interests.

In the recent U.S. presidential election, American supporters of Donald Trump's campaign simply reflected the genuine political image of the United States to its people and the world, Iranian experts said on Thursday.

"This is the American people's election, and we respect it," Zarif said in his first reaction following the reports about Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election.

"Iran and the United States have no political relations, but the United States must carry out what it has undertaken as an international multilateral commitment in the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)," he was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

JCPOA is the nuclear agreement sealed between Iran and the world's major powers, including the United States, in July 2015 and implemented in January 2017.

The reason why Trump gained the support of the majority of Americans lies in a number of factors which were not revealed to the people "un-retouched," said Hassan Abedini, Iranian university professor and political expert.

As for domestic policy, Trump believes that beside other unfavourable situations in the country, "the political system of the United States is corrupt, and the rich decide on who enters the White House," he said, adding that this was the discourse favored by many voters.

Abedini said that Trump even used the worst rhetoric when addressing the ruling U.S. politicians by stating that after his team takes over the Washington office, they will "drain the swamp."

This is the hidden part of U.S. politics which he tried to unearth, he added.

Furthermore, Trump was critical of the U.S. involvement in the Middle East wars over the past years which were costly for the United States and wasted the peoples' financial resources, the Iranian expert said.

"Trump overtly declares that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, led by the United States, have inflicted six trillion U.S. dollars in expenses on the American people, and that those who were behind these wars should be accountable," Abedini mentioned this as another drawback of the policy makers in the United States.

Trump's slogan to amend the "corruption in political structure" of the United States was a key factor taken seriously by the American people in the recent elections, he pointed out.

The Iranian professor said that "of course, the push for change was not something new in the U.S. presidential campaigns. In the past two elections, people relied on Barack Obama for his change slogans, but he failed to fulfil his pledges."

On Wednesday, Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in a close race, winning the 45th U.S. presidency. Endit