Iran Expert: "No Foreign Intervention" Wanted, Protests Are Internal Matter

Karimi, in a conversation with ANI, said that interference and violence is not acceptable in Iran.

He said, "Actually, the situation in Iran is like any other modern country with the normal protests, especially the economic challenges that the country faces from time to time. And like many other countries, for example, in France, we had the Yellow Vests movement and other countries as well. But from the point of view of intervening or supporting some violence, which may be combined with the normal protests. It is not acceptable for normal people in Iran."

Karimi added that they don't want intervention from any other country, including the US.

"And if you just forget about the influences from the foreign secret services or the intelligence services, the normal people may protest, but they don't want to have any intervention from any other country, including the United States," he said.

He added that peaceful protests are acceptable in Iran.

"So, from the administration's point of view, it is acceptable for normal people to protest in a peaceful way. But the attempts and the measures that the positions of Mr Trump and some other ex-officials, like Pompeo, mentioned on Twitter, like supporting the violence in Iran, are only examples of disrupting the peaceful protest, I think. And it is against the norm," he said.

Karimi said that the protests in Iran and Venezuela are different, as the problems in Iran are internal.

"No, I don't think that there are any similarities. Know Venezuela and Iran differ. Iran is the oldest permanent and continuous civilisation in the world. And Iranians already have the passport of survival here. And it is not difficult for Iranians to come over to the third world. It's like the protestors, and they are not that much, you know, difficult to overcome, but the problems in Iran are internal, and we should solve them by ourselves. The situation in Venezuela, which was totally different and the intervention from the American side, is a totally different story, and we can discuss it," he said.

He said that Iran managed the sanctions much better than Venezuela.

"You can see that Iran managed and handled the sanctions much better than Venezuela and the Iranian export of oil is limited in volume and the customers. But at the same time, Iran could hold it over time. It has been over 20 years since Iran has been under sanctions, and many, many years that the central banks have been under sanctions. But still, has a problem. It has been in a normal state," he said.

Karimi added that while inflation, foreign exchange rates are a trouble point, Iran has regardless been better.

"Definitely, inflation, foreign exchange rates, etc., are in trouble and should be managed, while some parts can be managed internally; some are highly dependent on the sanction terms, which could be handled openly in a more open foreign policy. Anyways, Iran's management of these sanctions has been performing much better than Venezuela's. It's not comparable," he added.

He further critiqued US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and that sovereignty of a nation should be respected.

"I think about Venezuela, Rubio is nonsense to talk about, I think. And any sovereignty should be respected. And it is totally illegal that the Secretary of State of the United States talk about the resources of another foreign country and sovereignty, and that the resources for Venezuela should belong to the Venezuelan people, and it is not the business of the Venezuelan people," he said.

He added that the US operation in Venezuela was illegal and contrary to international norms.

"We witness not the legal attempts but the illegal and ultra-illegal measures. Sometimes I think that we forget about all the international norms, international public opinion, domestic public opinion and international law. But I call the whole world, the countries, and non-state actors, state actors, play a better role in aligning the whole thing", he said.

Meanwhile, during their first court appearance in New York, Venezuela's deposed dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to all charges and accused the United States government of abducting them from their home country, CNN reported.

As per CNN on Monday (local time), both Maduro and Flores denied the drug trafficking and weapons-related charges filed against them and, for now, did not contest their continued detention. The appearance marked a historic moment and the beginning of what is expected to be a prolonged legal battle, as their defence is likely to challenge the legality of their military capture.

- ANI