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US conflict with Iran aims to block rise of India, China as global powers: Khamenei's envoy to New Delhi
Khamenei's representative has said that the US' aim is to prevent the rise of other global powers, and so Washington can "maintain its dominance".
Amid the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran, Iranian officials have accused Washington of fuelling global conflicts to retain its position as a powerful country.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Abdul Majeed Hakeem Ilahi, Special Representative of the office of Iran's Supreme Leader to India, said that the conflict with Iran is aimed at preventing India and China from becoming rising powers. Follow LIVE updates on US Iran conflict here
The Khamenei representative stated that the US' aim is to prevent the rise of other global powers, and so Washington can "maintain its dominance".
"In the near future, the world's most powerful nations will be India, China, Russia, and the United States. However, America does not want any partners; it does not want to see India or China emerge as powerful peers. Consequently, they instigate these wars to prevent this shift and maintain their global dominance," he told the Indian news agency.
'US started this war, not us'
The Iranian official further stated that it was the United States and Israel which started the war, not Iran. Ilahi's statement echoes similar ones made by top security official Ali Larijani, who stated that Iran is now defending itself from US-Israeli aggression.
"They are the ones attacking us and bombing our civilians; we are simply defending ourselves," he said, adding that since US was the one to start the war, they should be the ones to end it as well.
"Once they do [stop the war], we will stop as well," said Ilahi.
The representative further stated that Iran is battling two wars - one being a military conflict with the United States and Israel and a 'fake news war'.
"The first war, which is very heavy and is a big war, is a narrative war, and the second war is a military war. We can handle our military war against America and Israel. But there is another war which is much bigger than this first one. And the second major war is narrative war. In narrative war, they fabricate a lot of fake news, which is not true and which is not correct. And they say the people of Iran want the regime change," he said.
(With inputs from ANI)
