Mottaki says West ‘dramatizing’ riots

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki speaks out against Western efforts that seek to dramatize the post-election unrest in the country.

Washington and a slew of European powers, in recent days, have lashed out at governmental moves to restore security in the country.

“We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people… The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching,” said US President Barack Obama said in a Saturday statement.

Britain, France and other European countries have also taken a similar stance on the Iranian elections.

In a Sunday address to foreign reporters, Mottaki responded to “irresponsible and intrusive remarks” made by certain Western countries.

He focused much of his criticism on France, Germany and Britain, advising them to “think twice before questioning the democratic process of the recent election”.

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Mottaki criticized the British foreign secretary for his inappropriate and illogical comments on Iran’s elections. He blamed Britain for causing insecurity in the Middle East by helping create the Zionist regime decades ago.

The foreign minister also criticized France for what he called irresponsible remarks on Iran’s elections and demanded an apology from Paris. Germany also came under criticism. Mottaki said Berlin’s position on Iran indicated that German officials were intimidated by Israelis.

He said policymakers in the West need to have “a clear picture” of the historic elections, which saw Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected for a second term in office.

Presidential contenders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi reject the result as fraudulent and demand a re-run.

Their supporters have staged rallies, which have largely grabbed headlines in most media outlets.

In response to recent claims of election irregularities, Mottaki said that the election process and the whole structure observing the polls is such that makes the possibility of vote rigging “close to zero”.

Mottaki, however, asserted that due to the government’s respect for democracy, Iranian authorities would look into the protests lodged against the election results and present the findings by the end of the week.