Tehran condemns US comments

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign minister on Tuesday hit back against United

States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s warning that the Islamic republic is becoming a military dictatorship.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki retorted that it is the United States that has become a military dictatorship, pointing to its wars in Vietnam through Iraq and Afghanistan. He criticized Clinton’s Mideast tour, which took her to Saudi Arabia on Monday, saying it was “overflowing with contradictions and incorrect actions.”

“Those who have been the very symbol of military dictatorship over the past decades, since the Vietnam War until now, see everyone else in the same way,” Mottaki said at a press conference.