ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s defense minister and his armed forces chief blasted US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Sunday, one warning him to watch his words and the other accusing him of talking through his hat. In an interview published Friday, Carter accused Iran of having a military hand in a number of countries around the Middle East. “The US secretary of defense had better go over his past record in this position of authority and reconsider his bully-like and aggressive stances and talk more sensibly and circumspectly henceforth,” Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan said. He said US intelligence agencies ”mislead their authorities,” goading them into taking “unreal, irrational, and aggressive positions,” Iran’s official Press TV reported. The Islamic Republic “is after stability and security in the region,” it quoted him as saying. In an interview published Friday in The Atlantic magazine, Carter said, “If you look at where the Iranians are able to wield influence, they are in the game, on the ground” in a number of countries. Meanwhile, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, accused Carter of being “misinformed about regional affairs.” He said the US defense chief had “talked more than he knows.” “We are certain that the US secretary of defense’s remarks are based on wrong information,” Firouzabadi said. A group of five nations led by the US signed a nuclear agreement with Iran in July that was meant to lift decades of American sanctions and ease relations. Instead, hard-liners on both sides have tried to snarl the deal with a war of words.
