Iran dismisses US allegations on its regional influence

Iran on Thursday dismissed claims by the US intelligence about Tehran's rising influence in the Middle East.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi slammed US National Intelligence Director Dan Coats for making "worn-out" and "baseless" claims about Iran's influence in the region, Xinhua news agency reported.

"No country has tried as much as Iran to ensure stability and peace in the Middle East," Qasemi said.

On Tuesday, Coats said at a US Senate hearing that Iran, together with some other states, posed the greatest regional and global threat.

Such remarks were aimed at "creating and promoting false and self-fabricated threats and terror in different parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East", said Qasemi.

He urged the regional states to be vigilant about what he called the US "destabilising" policies.

--IANS

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