Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has said that Iran accepts nothing more than the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action better known as the JCPOA.
In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, Khatibzadeh said that “Iran has considered whether to resume negotiations, and we have come to the conclusion that we will certainly resume them.”
“Then there is a second phase which concerns the evaluation of all the negotiations that have already been carried out to clarify all the dimensions, before entering into an active and effective dialogue,” he added.
Asked whether Iran will be asking for additional things, particularly the lifting of sanctions, Khatibzadeh said, noting that “we wonder why six successive rounds of negotiations in Vienna have failed.”
“The reasons and shortcomings must be assessed. It is necessary to correct a pathology, to change the points which have remained unsatisfied,” he noted.
“In this story, the United States is the party that left the nuclear deal, the party that imposed unilateral sanctions, caused suffering for the Iranian people, and caused billions in losses to the Iranian economy,” he noted.
“The United States even punished those of its partners who wanted to trade with Iran,” he said.
“None of Europe’s obligations have been fulfilled, and then Europe is worried about reducing Iran’s obligations in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), at least what can be said is that these conditions are, if not cruel, but unfair,” he underscored.
With regard to the regional developments and Iran’s role in Iraq and Syria, Khatibzadeh said that Iran is in Syria because Syria had become a terrorist heaven and the Syrian government has asked us to do so.
He went on to say that Iran does not have a base in Syria.
We are not looking for a military base in Syria, he said, noting that “our relations with Syria are strategic.”
Without the role of Iran, Daesh had taken Erbil, he said, adding that it does not mean Iran has a military base in Iraq.
But that means Iran is trying to keep the region safe, he further noted.
Source: Islamic Republic News Agency – IRNA
