In its Country Report 2018 on terrorism released November 1, 2019, the US Department of State claims that “Iran remains the world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism.” It said Iran has spent nearly one billion dollars per year to support terrorist groups that serve as its proxies and expand its malign influence across the globe.”

The US claim that Iran is a leading sponsor of terrorism in the world goes back to the American definition of terrorism, which differs from most other countries in the world and even the United Nations. In fact, groups such as Hamas, the Islamic Jihad Organization, the Houthis and Hezbollah fighting for the freedom of their lands, or groups opposing terrorism, such as the Hashdal al-Shaabi, backed by Iran, are considered terrorist by America.

The US will label any group and organization it wants as terrorist, and if Iran has friendly relations with any of them, it will be called support for terrorism.

While Iran’s constitution obliges the state to protect the lands and peoples who oppose oppression and occupation, Iran will never be removed from the US terrorist list because it is defined by the Iranian constitution as what is called resistance. We must defend against any occupation. Therefore, since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, this practice has been followed by Iran and will continue to be so.

Against these US allegations Iran must make revelations by devising new initiatives and methods to eliminate misunderstandings. However, arrogance-dependent cyberspace and media prevent precise reflection of Iran’s approaches and realities.

In fact, Iran must explain what the US means by terrorism and explain it to the people. Perhaps many people are now defending the Palestinians or the Houthis, but they do not have enough information about them and their circumstances. So these issues need to be explored for European and Asian public opinions on various programs to counteract American line of thinking and their propaganda ploys.

Public opinion should also be informed about US efforts to support a country such as Saudi Arabia that has killed many civilians in the Yemeni war or openly violated human rights by brutally murdering (dissident journalist) Gamal Khashoggi. So this also requires a publicity process. It should be noted, of course, that US human rights policies at home and abroad are not valid.

In this regard, the pressures the United States exerts on Latin American immigrants can be mentioned. In recent months, video clips on separation of US-born children from their parents have been released. Donald Trump separated these American-born children from their parents and kept the parents in camp to be deported later. Such policies are the culmination of human rights abuses. Outside of the United States too, we find that Yemenis have been bombed for about five years and many homes, mosques, schools, and hospitals have been destroyed. These bombings were also often carried out upon US advice.

US officials have also repeatedly announced how they created terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. So if some US allies believed allegations of human rights violations by a country like Iran before Trump came to power, today, most countries can read Washington’s mind, and they know that Washington adopts a very radical and hostile attitude toward other countries. As a result, America’s dual view of human rights and its own definition of terrorism are known by all countries.