GOGANOVIĆ: SOME SEE IRAN AS BiH's STRATEGIC PARTNER, BUT IN MY VIEW, IT IS AMERICA

EAST SARAJEVO, JUNE 29 /SRNA/ - Deputy Defense Minister in the Council of Ministers, Aleksandar Goganović, told SRNA that the peoples of BiH do not share the same views on who their strategic partners are — for some, it may be Iran, but his position is well known: the strategic partner of the Armed Forces of BiH is the United States, which has invested significant efforts and financial resources into reforming BiH’s defense system.

In response to SRNA’s question about recent media statements made by Defense Minister Zukan Helez, in which Helez persistently attempts to justify intentions to establish military cooperation between BiH and Iran, claiming the delegation was multiethnic, Goganović stated that political representatives of the Serb people and Republika Srpska did not attend the meeting between Minister Helez and the non-resident military attaché of Iran, and added that Helez’s justification regarding an allegedly multiethnic delegation is in vain. "I reiterate that it is not true that the delegation was multiethnic, as Minister Helez persistently claims, citing the name of a female official who professionally performs her duties in protocol. The delegation did not reflect a multiethnic character, because neither I, as Deputy Minister, nor the advisors from my office, who are politically appointed, attended the meeting," Goganović emphasized. He explained that Helez, on his initiative and without the consent of the two deputy ministers’ offices, organized the meeting, which took place only a few days before the recent military operations between Iran and Israel, as well as the US military intervention in the region. "It is not my fault that some individuals are uninformed about the potential repercussions for BiH and its possible alignment in that conflict on Iran’s side," Goganović said, reminding that conducting foreign policy is the responsibility of the Presidency of BiH.