Similarities with false claims ahead of US invasion of Iraq ‘mind-boggling’

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, has drawn parallels between Trump’s unproven claims that Iran is close to having a nuclear weapon, and the lies that were made in the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Then-US President George W Bush’s administration had justified the invasion on the false claim that Iraq was developing so-called weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

Similarly, Bishara said Trump appears to be disregarding an assessment from US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard, who certified in March that Washington “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”.

“That was only two and a half months ago. So what is the American president basing his information on? From the Israelis, and the Israelis are lying,” Bishara said.

He added that – as we’ve been reporting – the UN nuclear agency also has said it found no evidence to indicate that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon.

“Again, the parallels between the war on Iran and the war on Iraq, and the deception before and during both wars, is mind-boggling. The fact that it could be repeated within two decades is mesmerising,” Bishara said.

Iran foreign minister says ‘committed to diplomacy’, only acting in self-defence

Rebuffing Israeli and US claims that Iran is close to having a nuclear weapon, Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi has reiterated that the country has “never sought and...