Sputnik: Has the US made a mistake by killing General Soleimani?
Hamid Reza Gholamzadeh: The United States has actually made a very grave mistake and they have left Iran with no other choice but to retaliate. The attack was a military one and Iran’s will need to be a military one as well, so Iran needs to react because if not; it would lead to the establishment of such a balance of power, that the US can attack and Iran just remains silent and it’s not something that anyone would accept.
The most vital thing for Iran is their security and the country needs to retaliate in order to deter the US from undertaking further attacks, otherwise, the United States would consider it a sign of weakness from Iran and that would lead to the possibility of full-fledged war against Iran, with the United States attacking Iran.
The only choice that the US has left for Iran is a retaliation of at least the same size that has happened to General Soleimani. Millions of people poured to the streets commemorating him this morning, because he was one of the most popular military leaders in Iran.
Sputnik: Should the EU defy US foreign policy for the sake of preserving peace in the Middle East?
Hamid Reza Gholamzadeh: Most of the statements coming from Europe so far have been awful I’m afraid to say. They were actually somehow supporting the US and demanding that Iran should de-escalate the situation and saying that it was Iran who made the US carry out an act of war, but diplomacy is never going to work like that.
The problem is that the Europeans have turned into puppet regimes of the US, particularly the UK and France, and they are now calling for de-escalation from Iran, when the Americans have carried out an act of war, they have carried out an attack against international law and they are threatening Iran with further attacks.
If there are going to be further attacks and retaliation from Iran, followed by a response from the United States, then it will create a full-scale war, which would at least engulf the region, if not the whole world and the consequences for sure would be harsh and destructive first to the American allies in the region and then to Europeans.
By supporting the US and by remaining silent against the violations of international law by the US, they are actually sort of abetting the American crimes and they will ultimately suffer more than the US from any consequences that might happen.
Sputnik: How will the Iran affair impact the upcoming US Presidential election?
Hamid Reza Gholamzadeh: Donald Trump could lose the US Presidential election, just like Jimmy Carter did, due to the Iran situation. The gamble he took was a very big mistake and his administration thinks there is going to be a response from Iran and that if there was a war, that it might be something that unites Americans and would guarantee a second term.
The miscalculation that they have made is that Iran is not Iraq or even Vietnam. Iran is for sure more powerful and more established than those countries and if there is any war, Iran would absolutely be the winner because of the power that it has in the region and because of the experiences that they have had over the years.
This miscalculation will be very dangerous for President Trump and I expect that he will actually lose the next US election if he wants to continue aggression in the Middle East and responding to Iranian retaliation.