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May 12, 2023
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Former Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour: The U.S. Opposed Iran's Rapprochement With The Arab Countries Because This Will Decrease American Weapons Sales To These Countries

#10304 | 01:43
Source: NBN TV (Lebanon)

Former Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said in a May 12, 2023 interview with NBN TV (Lebanon) that the U.S. views the rapprochement between Iran and Syria and other Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, negatively because it would decrease America's weapons sales to these countries. Mansour also said that Western foreign policy builds up "the Iran scarecrow," claiming that it poses a threat to Arab countries.

Adnan Mansour: "The U.S. has a negative attitude towards any Saudi rapprochement with Syria and Iran, or between the Gulf states and Iran. This is clear. They even object to Egyptian-Iranian rapprochement.

[...]

"Why doesn't the U.S. want any such rapprochement? We know that military expenditure in the Gulf states has peaked in the past decade. 45% of the American arms sales in the world go to Arab countries. That is 45% out of $220 billion. The Saudi defense budget in 2015 and 2016 was $80 billion, which was the third largest in the world, after the U.S. and China. They were ahead of superpowers like Russia, Britain, and France. In 2017, it went down to $70 billion, and today it is approximately $60 billion. The Western foreign policy always points to the Iran scarecrow."

Interviewer: "They warn of wars..."

Mansour: "They say that Iran poses a threat..."

Interviewer: "The sell weapons and then, sometimes, instigate wars in order to advance the sales of..."

Mansour: "Of course. Who stands to gain from this? The American military corporations. The arms sales... At the end of the day, the U.S. behaves like a merchant. A merchant wants to sell these weapons."

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