Major General Hassan Firuzabadi, the long-time chief of the Armed Forces Joint Staff, made no mention of the fact that the United States now has a Black president.
“Today, Americans are the symbol of paradox and hypocrisy when it comes to the campaign against racism in the world,” Firuzabadi said.
“They are trying to brand themselves as the flag-bearer of democracy and human rights in the world, but the realities in US society as well as its brutal and criminal policies against other nations and oppressed ethnic groups in different parts of the world prove this claim to be untrue,” the Fars news agency quoted Firuzabadi as saying.
“Today, Americans are the flag-bearers of modern racism,” he said. “Although the US claims to be supporting democracy and human rights in the world, they have ignored the inalienable rights of a major segment of their own country’s population due to racism.”
He described the US government’s response to the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina as an example of the official discrimination against Black Americans.
“The poor and the Black are second-class citizens in the eyes of US leaders. Only the white and rich Americans enjoy the rights and advantages of first-class citizens,” he said.
Firuzabadi is the only military officer who sits on the Expediency Council, which draws up major government policies for the Supreme Leader.