US: Iran Was Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism in 2015
The US State Department, in its annual report on terrorism, has placed Iran “at the top” of state sponsors of terrorism, stating that the government of this country has supported terrorist groups in various parts of the world in different ways, including financial support, training, and provision of equipment.
The US State Department has specifically addressed Iran’s support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah and described this group as “a serious threat to Lebanon’s and the region’s stability.”
The report also referred to Iran’s support for Shiite paramilitary groups in Iraq, the Bashar Assad government, and Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups, and accused the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps along with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence of supporting terrorism on a global scale.
The United States has listed Iran on its list of terrorist-sponsoring countries for more than 30 years. Iran has rejected this accusation and says it supports “resistance” groups. By pointing to examples in American foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel and Palestine, Iran counter-accuses the US of supporting terrorism and says US accusations are political in nature.
The US State Department in its report has accused Iran of financial and military support for dissident Shiites in Bahrain.
Furthermore, the US State Department has said that Iran “has not shown a willingness to prosecute senior members of Al-Qaeda.”
Aside from Iran, in the US State Department’s report, Sudan and Syria are also accused of supporting terrorism.
Iran’s alleged support for terrorism is one of the reasons that has caused European banks, despite the implementation of the nuclear deal, to continue to refrain from conducting transactions with Iran.
Source: BBC
