US playing victim by calling for global condemnation of Iran: FM spokesman

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has dismissed US calls for the international community to condemn Iran over the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, saying Washington is playing the victim despite having carried out aggression against Iran.

Baqaei’s statement came in a Wednesday post on his X account, in response to recent remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who called for global condemnation of Iran for allegedly sowing insecurity in the Persian Gulf.

The Iranian diplomat said it was the US that initiated the joint aggression against Iran with Israel, assassinated the country’s leaders, carried out massacres of civilians, imposed harsh sanctions on the country, and then withdrew from a June agreement aimed at ending the war.

He said the US was clearly trying to “evade responsibility” by presenting itself as the accuser rather than the aggressor and portraying Iran as the culprit rather than the victim.

“The world is paying the price of your unlawful aggression through regional instability and global economic insecurity,” he said in the post.

“You cannot launch a war of choice, set the region ablaze, unleash global chaos, and then play the victim.”

The post comes amid a continued stalemate in efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the confrontation between Iran and the US.

Iran has refused to ease its restrictions on transit through the Strait of Hormuz, saying the key international energy waterway will be fully reopened once the US permanently ends its aggression and lifts its maritime blockade and sanctions against Iran.

Iranian authorities have indicated that the country will not back down from its conditions and will respond decisively to any new act of aggression against its territory.