Iran offers to show America how to plug the leak

Iran will help President Obama stop the oil leak if he asks for help, reported the semi-official Fars News Agency today.

Mehman-Parast, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that resolving the problem of the oil spill and the resulting pollution was a humanitarian issue that demanded a response from all countries. Iran was thus offering its vast technical expertise to show America how the leak could be stopped. Fars reports:

The remarks by Mehman-Parast came a day after the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (irgc) announced that its experts are prepared to control the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”The experience of Iranians’ presence in curbing oil spills in a number of neighboring states in the Persian Gulf, such as Kuwait, demonstrates Iranian capabilities and skills and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is ready to help curb the oil spill (in the Gulf of Mexico),” commander of the irgc’s Khatam ol-Anbia headquarters Gen. Rostam Qassemi stated.Qassemi reminded the environmental threat posed by the oil spill to the Caribbean states and nations, and stated, “Despite new sanctions, the irgc is prepared to fulfill its humanitarian duty in this regard and use its exclusive and indigenous capability in the Gulf of Mexico.”Earlier on May 24, Iranian Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazzemi had voiced the country’s preparedness to aid the U.S. in cleaning the massive oil spill in Mexico’s Gulf Coast which threatens the surrounding environment.

With Iran it is hard to know what is happening. Is the offer a blatant attempt by Iran to boost President Obama’s approval ratings, which have been plummeting amid his inability to contain the spill—or is Iran just poking fun at America’s impotence?