Iran decries US ‘hypocrisy’ over planned nuclear sale to Saudi Arabia

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has denounced Washington’s “hypocrisy” after reports said the administration of US President Donald Trump was seeking to advance the sale of nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia.

“Day by day it becomes clearer to the world what was always clear to us: neither human rights nor a nuclear program have been the real concern of the US,” Zarif wrote on his official Twitter page on Wednesday.

Zarif also pointed to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents in October, saying it further exposed the US double standards for human rights.

“First a dismembered journalist; now illicit sale of nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia fully expose #USHypocrisy.”

The Trump administration came under fire for acting with equivocation in the wake of Khashoggi’s murder and after evidence showed the Riyadh government's role in his slaying. 

Zarif‘s remarks came after a new report by a congressional committee revealed Tuesday that the Trump administration was trying to bypass the US Congress to transfer sensitive nuclear power technology to Saudi Arabia.

SS