U.S. “Asian NATO” Plan Doomed To Failure: Iranian Paper

TEHRAN, Jun 16 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s English language newspaper, Tehran Times, slammed the U.S. idea of expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), to the Asia-Pacific region, saying it is doomed to failure, as it lacks regional backing.

The paper on Wednesday published an article entitled “Asian NATO: U.S. paranoia and fragility,” highlighting a widely reported plan by the U.S.-led military alliance, NATO, to expand to the Asia-Pacific region.

Quoting a Japanese newspaper report, the article said that, NATO seeks to establish a liaison office in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, in 2024, to use it as a centre to cooperate with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, all of which are geographically close to China.

Intimidated by China’s emergence as a superpower, the U.S. aims to contain China, based on the “paranoiac” assumption that Beijing seeks to “compete with or challenge” it on a global scale, although China doesn’t have such an intention, it said.

However, the U.S. plan to create a replica of the NATO in the Asia-Pacific region is doomed to failure, as “it has consequences and at the same time lacks backing from many regional Asian countries” and even NATO allies, such as France, the article added.

In the past, the article said, the U.S. attempt to create a replica of NATO in the Middle East had failed because the regional countries soon realised that, it would bring instability to the region and decided to ensure their security by working together.

It warned that, as the U.S. hegemony diminishes, Washington “is playing dangerous games around the world,” through seeking to provoke conflicts elsewhere instead of pursuing diplomatic paths.

The article concluded that, no one will benefit from a NATO-like military alliance in Asia, apart from the U.S., which is accustomed to reaping economic dividends from crises in different parts of the world.

– NNN-IRNA