WITH the conclusion of the second round of talks between the representatives of the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran and an agreement to continue the talks, it can be stated that this course has thus far been able to prevent the current tensions [between Iran and the West] from spilling over into a US military attack [on Iran] and the start of a war, as well as stay the hand of the warmongering Israeli government away from attacking Iran.

However, given Iran’s currently crisis-ridden economy and gloomy predicament, the complete bankruptcy brought about by three decades of implementing anti-national foreign policies, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s empty hand vis-a-vis Donald Trump, our country still faces a range of grave threats from the most destructive factions of US imperialism for the time being.

The nature and function of US imperialism to maintain its hegemony by resorting to wars and coup d’etats, in order to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and determine the course of future developments there, is well-known and unchanging — and it has a long history, at least as far as our country is concerned. Trump would undoubtedly seize upon any opportunity to steer the Islamic Republic in a direction whereby it essentially becomes a strategic ally of the US in global interactions.