TEHRAN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday dismissed the recent anti-Iran claims by the U.S. officials as "hostile and baseless," the ministry's website reported.
"The U.S. president's meddling, repetitive and baseless claims against Iran are aimed at Iranophebia and are in line with the U.S. hostile policies against the Islamic republic, seeking to persuade the regional countries to buy more arms from the United States," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
The U.S. stance against Iran is "deceptive and destructive" and attempts to undermine the sovereignty of the regional states besides supporting Israel, Qasemi said.
"Unfortunately, some regional states are looking for the support of the superpowers instead of relying on their own nation and the potentials of regional cooperation," he said, adding that such an approach will result in the destruction of the infrastructures of the regional countries, including Syria and Yemen, by the terrorist groups.
The Iranian spokesmen urged the U.S. officials to stop, what he called, "rising tensions, intervention, Iranophebia, and selling weapons to the supporters of terrorism."
Earlier on the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that U.S. President Donald Trump's recent anti-Iran remarks are aimed at "milking" Saudi Arabia, Tasnim news agency reported.
"Iran, fresh from real elections, attacked by @POTUS in that bastion of democracy & moderation. Foreign Policy or simply milking KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) of 480 billion U.S. dollars?" Zarif twitted on Monday, speaking of Saudi Arabia.
The remarks by Iranian Foreign Ministry officials came in response to Trump's recent anti-Tehran remarks in Riyadh and his arms sale deal with the Saudis.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Trump called on the regional countries to isolate Iran which, he said, had "fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror."
On Sunday, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, refuted the comments by the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for urging a policy shift in Tehran's conduct during President Hassan Rouhani's second term.
The only way to peace in the Middle East is a pull-out of the U.S. forces from the region, Jazayeri said.
During his Saudi Arabia visit, Tillerson said Saturday that he hopes the re-election of Rouhani would prompt changes to Tehran's approach to "terrorism and human rights."
Tillerson urged Iran's re-elected president to dismantle the alleged "network of terrorism" and to end ballistic missile tests.
He made the remarks at a news conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir in Riyadh.
In the reaction, Jazayeri urged the United States for what he called an end to the "aggressive and terrorist operations against independent states" by the assistance of "reactionary regimes" in the region.
Besides, no factor could hinder Iran's defense programs, he said, describing the boost of Iran's missile defense systems as a top priority for the Islamic republic.
