The United States Government has sent out a strong warning to Sri Lanka over the island’s rapidly growing close ties and diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In the backdrop of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s scheduled state visit to Sri Lanka tomorrow, US State Department Spokesperson Tom Casey has clearly disclosed their concerns over the Iranian President’s South Asia visit.
During the daily press briefing in Washington, last Monday, Spokesperson Casey said that it was up to every country to determine for itself how it was going to organise its bilateral relations with Iran and that it was up to them to determine how best to manage them.
“We would hope that the Indian Government or any government that was engaging with the Iranians, including with President Ahmadinejad, would call on him to meet the requirements that the Security Council and the international community has placed on him in terms of suspending their uranium enrichment activities and complying with the other requirements regarding their nuclear programme,” the State Department Spokesperson said.
He also urged the South Asian nations to urge Iran to end what he termed as “unhelpful activities with Iraq, with respect to support for terrorism, including organisations like Hezbollah and Hamas, and to otherwise become a more responsible actor on the world stage.”
It is learnt that, a few weeks before Casey’s remarks on the Iran connection, the US State Department had already conveyed its displeasure to Colombo, through diplomatic channels, about the Sri Lankan Government’s rapidly growing bilateral relationship with Iran.
High-ranking Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry Officials in Colombo downplayed the importance of Sri Lanka’s close ties with Iran as traditional bilateral diplomatic relations between two independent countries.
But The Nation learns that US State Department officials were not satisfied with the government’s response.
The US has also expressed its very serious concerns over Sri Lanka’s growing ties with China and Russia.
