DODIK: IRAN'S DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER EXPECTED IN POTOČARI

BEOGRAD, JULY 8 /SRNA/ – SNSD leader Milorad Dodik said he had received information that Iran's deputy foreign minister would attend the July 11 commemoration in Potočari, near Srebrenica.

Dodik noted that in previous years either Iran's ambassador or no Iranian representative had attended the event. He also claimed that Iran had been highly active in BiH during the war, alleging that it organized the Pogorelica camp, where, according to him, terrorists later involved in the September 11 attacks in the United States received training.

He further alleged that Iran had brought mujahideen fighters to BiH, where they fought against Serbs and committed atrocities against them.

Speaking to Radio Belgrade, Dodik said US President Donald Trump was right to insist that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, while also recognizing that Russia maintains good relations with Iran.

"In all of this, we must have clear positions, and our position is that Iranians came here without any invitation, sided with the Muslims, commanded the foreign Muslim mercenary unit 'El Mujahideen,' which numbered 4,200 fighters and committed brutal killings, including beheadings," Dodik stressed.

He also claimed that the American magazine Time had once reported that Serbs were beheading Muslims, although the accompanying photograph showed the face of a Serb soldier being held by the hair by a mujahideen fighter.

Dodik said that Muslims were no longer viewed as favorites internationally, that they "cry" all the time, continuing to reject dialogue with Serbs by accusing them of genocide, an accusation he rejected.

He said that something had changed in Washington, pointing to the recent visit by Mark Burns, described as a spiritual adviser to the US president, who attended the commemoration in Bratunac marking more than three decades since the killing of 3,267 Serbs in the Podrinje region and, according to Dodik, wanted to learn more about those events.

"That sends a message that things are changing. We should not rush to conclude that everything has changed overnight, but it is now easier for us to present our position," Dodik said, thanking Serbian Patriarch Porfirije for insisting that Burns visit both Bratunac and Kosovo and Metohija.

Dodik pointed out that one of the main narratives in the United States today concerns whether Christian communities are under threat. He argued that Serbs in BiH, as a Christian community, face pressure from Muslims, whom he accused of promoting what he described as a greater-state concept aimed at subordinating Serbs.

"People in America hear that and understand it. I have no problem saying that we are in an unfortunate union called BiH, which deserves neither to exist nor should exist, and that one day it will inevitably break up, if not rapidly, then through a natural process in which it simply withers away and disappears," Dodik said.

He added that Bosniaks had gone too far in seeking US favor by supporting Trump's election opponent Kamala Harris, adding that Trump's associates were aware of this, and alleging that Sarajevo had consistently supported Hamas and Hezbollah.

Dodik reminded that Trump had said at a previous National Prayer Breakfast that even "small pressures and harm" directed at Christian communities anywhere in the world would trigger a strong US response.

He also rejected suggestions that the July 11 commemoration in Potočari was organized by BiH as a state.

"Just as we organize the commemoration in Bratunac, you should organize yours there," Dodik said, stressing that the day should be respected.