Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki criticized the United States on Tuesday for saying the Tehran government was moving toward a army dictatorship. Mottaki was quoted by the ISNA news office as saying, "They themselves are involved in a sort of military dictatorship and have practically ignored the realities and the truths in the region." He added, "America has a incorrect attitude toward the issues in the Middle East and it is the continuation of their past wrong policies."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated on Monday the United States believes Iran's Revolutionary Guards are driving the state toward military dictatorship and should be targeted in any new United Nations restrictions