The Islamic Republic of Iran’s FARS News Agency has published an “interview” with Nigel Farage, the entertaining but silly leader of UKIP.
Here are some key quotes from that interview:
Q: How do you evaluate cooperation between Iran and UK?
A: It seems to me that the UK is collaborating with the USA and the EU to victimize Iran for exercising her rights as a sovereign nation and for daring to pursue policies, which do not accord with collaborators’ plans for supra-national world-domination.
…
Q: We have seen that some radical figures have asked for military option against Iran in terms of its nuclear program issue. What is your take on this? Do you think this option can help or it can worsen the situation?
A: I think it is an utterly inexcusable and scurrilous threat to make and should be totally unthinkable for any civilized nation. It cannot but degrade international relations towards the level of a brawl.
Q: By the way, we want to explore you idea on Iran and Britain’s relations during the last century. What ups and downs has it seen? and do you think that the relations will be re established? if so when?
A: The deterioration of relations between Britain and Iran occurred very suddenly, fifty years ago, when the western collaborators decided that Iran posed a political and economic threat to their political and economic ambitions in the Middle East. In my view, that remains their chief concern – whatever they may say about nuclear weapons, which are rather their latest convenient excuse – and this is why they have provoked the Iran-Iraq war and are hoping to destabilize Iran. These serial destabilizations are an end in themselves. Each one of them has criminally retarded Iran’s political and economic development, which was precisely the point of instigating them. On the other hand, an independent Britain – free of her present supranational entanglements – would be able to conduct transparent and cordial, fair and mutually profitable, diplomatic and trading relations with Iran, as one democratic nation to another. This could occur in a very few years from now.
Q: Are you confirming actions of Shell Company regarding not-following world boycotts against Iran? Why?
A: I think these boycotts are morally indefensible, counter-productive and sinister – as I have said – and I applaud anyone else who says so.
Now, FARS are not the sharpest tool in the box. It was they who were taken in by an Onion spoof, which they reported as news.
However, in this instance, FARS appear not to be at fault. Here’s Nigel Farage MEP’s explanation
An interview with the FARS news agency that is attributed to me did not take place. A member of staff with access to my email account gave a series of comments that do not reflect my opinions at all. I will be taking action on this and apologise wholeheartedly to anyone who has been offended.
Oh dear oh dear. Who would ever have suspected that loose cannons might be attracted to a party like UKIP?
