WANA (May 18) – A senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader has firmly rejected recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, labeling them “baseless” and reaffirming that Tehran does not view the economic development of its Arab neighbors as a threat.

 

Ali Akbar Velayati, the top foreign policy advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated in an interview that “Tehran sees no threat in the economic progress of its Arab neighbors,” and dismissed President Trump’s claims on the matter as unfounded.

 

Velayati also referenced the latest round of indirect nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, which took place last week in Muscat, the capital of Oman. “Iran is an independent, self-confident, and powerful country,” he asserted.

 

“If Iran didn’t have regional influence, the United States and other world powers wouldn’t be so insistent on negotiating and reaching an agreement with us.”

 

In a separate development, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Trump’s comments, describing them as yet another example of Washington’s “hypocritical and insulting” policies toward the region. The statement accused the U.S. of attempting to shield Israel from accountability for its crimes against regional nations.

 

“There is no doubt,” the statement read, “that the divisive rhetoric of the U.S. president is aimed at sowing discord between Iran and its Arab neighbors, while deflecting attention from America’s direct complicity in Israeli atrocities.”

 

The ministry emphasized that Iran and other countries in the region are fully aware of the U.S. and Israel’s destabilizing agendas. “Despite these third-party efforts to provoke division, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the regional nations will continue to pursue closer, amicable relations rooted in mutual respect.”