伊朗总统哈桑·鲁哈尼敦促西方列强与波斯湾保持“距离”，称美国和其他军事力量在该地区的持续存在是一场“灾难”
美联社报道，鲁哈尼和其他几位德黑兰政府领导人，包括外交部长贾瓦德扎里夫，继续与沙特阿拉伯和特朗普政府一再与伊朗联系在一起的9月14日阿美石油加工厂袭击保持距离。鲁哈尼周日在德黑兰的一次游行中表示，伊朗准备与中东邻国和平相处，但他和其他几位伊朗领导人一起要求美国和其他西方国家完全离开该地区。
特朗普政府指责伊朗否认该国是此次袭击的幕后黑手，伊朗议会议长阿里·拉里贾尼将目前驻扎在该地区保护商业利益的美国领导的联盟称为“掠夺该地区的新手段”
鲁哈尼周日在标志着1980年两伊战争开始的国家“神圣防御周”的一次活动中说:“你的存在对这个地区来说一直是一场灾难，你离我们地区和我们国家越远，我们地区的安全就会越大。”。“那些想把该地区的事件与伊朗伊斯兰共和国联系起来的人就像他们过去的谎言一样撒谎。如果他们是诚实的，并真正寻求该地区的安全，他们不得向该地区运送武器、战斗机、炸弹和危险武器。”
美国与该地区的几个阿拉伯国家签订了军事防御协议，以维持数万军队，保护能源出口。全球五分之一的石油交易通过波斯湾口的霍尔木兹海峡。
鲁哈尼以更加和蔼可亲的语气表示，德黑兰政府正致力于改善地区关系，并希望向其波斯湾邻国“伸出友谊之手”。他补充说，伊朗“甚至准备原谅过去的错误”
美国国务卿迈克·庞贝出现在哥伦比亚广播公司面向国家周日，伊朗否认胡塞武装部队在本月早些时候使用无人机袭击了阿拉姆科石油设施。庞贝回应伊朗外交部长扎里夫最近的否认时说，美国“已经有”证据表明伊朗是袭击的幕后黑手，但没有详细说明他所在部门的调查结果。
“我不知道为什么有人会听伊朗外交部长的话。他与伊朗外交政策无关，几十年来他一直在撒谎...听一个人反复声称是胡塞发动了这次袭击，这是有损于世界上任何人的尊严的。”
自1990年萨达姆·侯赛因放火焚烧科威特油井，引发第一次海湾战争以来，阿美石油公司的袭击是针对石油设施的最严重袭击。由于9月14日的袭击，油价飙升了20%。总部设在也门的胡塞武装叛军宣称发动了无人机袭击，但美国和沙特阿拉伯指责伊朗策划了此次破坏活动。
阿拉姆科遇袭后，共和党议员继续要求对伊朗采取行动，很少有美国政治人物对侵略伊朗采取坚定立场。但是夏威夷民主党众议员图西·加巴德一再敦促美国避免另一场永无止境的中东战争。
“伊朗战争的代价？一个陷入流血冲突的地区，无数的生命，数万亿美元，我们的国家安全遭到破坏，伊斯兰国/AQ得到加强，大规模移民危机，美国和俄罗斯或中国可能发生对抗。战争没有结束，因为“胜利”仍未确定推特提醒道上周。
IRANIAN PRESIDENT DEMANDS WESTERN COUNTRIES LEAVE PERSIAN GULF: 'YOUR PRESENCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CALAMITY'
Iran President Hassan Rouhani urged Western powers to "distance" themselves from the Persian Gulf, calling the ongoing presence of the United States and other military forces in the region a "calamity."
Rouhani and several other Tehran government leaders including Foreign Affairs Minister Javad Zarif continued to distance themselves from the September 14 Aramco oil processing plant attacks that Saudi Arabia and the Trump administration have repeatedly tied to Iran, the Associated Press reported. Speaking Sunday at a parade in Tehran, Rouhani declared Iran was ready to make peace with their Middle East neighbors but joined several other Iranian leaders in asking the U.S. and other Western countries to leave the region altogether.
The Trump administration has rebuked all Iranian denials that the country was behind the attack, and Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani labeled a U.S.-led coalition currently stationed to protect commercial interests in the area "a new means for plundering the region."
"Your presence has always been a calamity for this region and the farther you go from our region and our nations, the more security would come for our region," Rouhani said Sunday at an event for the country's "Holy Defense Week," marking the start of the Iran-Iraq war of 1980. "Those who want to link the region's incidents to the Islamic Republic of Iran are lying like their past lies that have been revealed. If they are truthful and really seek security in the region, they must not send weapons, fighter jets, bombs and dangerous arms to the region."
The U.S. has military defense agreements with several Arab nations in the region to maintain tens of thousands of troops in order to protect energy exports. One-fifth of oil traded across the world passes through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Taking on a much more amiable tone, Rouhani said the Tehran government is focusing on improving regional relationships and wants to "extend the hand of friendship and brotherhood" to its Persian Gulf neighbors. He added Iran is "even ready to forgive past mistakes."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday and dismissed any Iranian denials that Houthi forces used drones to attack the Aramco oil facility earlier this month. Responding to Iran Foreign Minister Zarif's most recent denial, Pompeo said the U.S. "already has" evidence Iran is behind the attacks but did not detail his department's findings.
"I don't know why anybody listens to the Iranian Foreign Minister. He has nothing to do with Iranian foreign policy and he has lied for decades ... It's beneath the dignity of anyone in the world to listen to someone who repeatedly makes the claim the Houthis launched this attack."
The Aramco attack was the worst strike against an oil facility since Saddam Hussein set fire to Kuwait's oil wells in 1990, prompting the first Gulf War. As a result of the September 14 attacks, oil prices spiked 20 percent. The drone attack was claimed by Yemen-based Houthi rebels, but the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of masterminding the sabotage.
Few U.S. political figures have taken a staunch stance against aggression toward Iran as Republican Party lawmakers continue demanding action against the Islamic Republic in the wake of the Aramco attack. But Hawaii Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has repeatedly urged the U.S. to avoid another never-ending Middle East war.
"Cost of Iran war? A region engulfed in bloodletting, countless lives, many trillions$, our ntnl security undermined, ISIS/AQ strengthened, massive immigration crisis, possible confrontation btwn US & nuclear Russia or China. War without end because 'victory' will remain undefined," Gabbard cautioned on Twitter last week.
