Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that the Iranian negotiating team has observed all red lines, noting that there are more than one outstanding issue between Tehran and Washington.
Speaking in his weekly press conference, Saeed Khatibzadeh said that no text has been finalized in Vienna talks to remove sanctions against Iran.
He said that the Iranian negotiating team have so far observed the red lines specified by the superior authorities in Tehran.
If we had wanted to cross red lines, we would have reached an agreement months ago, the spokesman said, adding that the American side hasn’t reached a point that indicates its commitment.
Khatibzadeh said that the Iranian people’s profit form the removal of sanction was important to the Iranian team.
We don’t really know whether or not we would reach a deal, because the US hasn’t shown the required determination to reach an agreement, he noted.
On the reports that the US wants to keep the IRGC Qods Force in the FTO list, Khatibzadeh underlined that the outstanding issues between Iran and the US were more than one and that Iran demands removing all the components of the so-called maximum pressure.
Commenting on the visit of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s trip to Tehran, Khatibzadeh referred to the long-standing Iran-Turkey ties as well as long borders between the two countries and said they have been the safest during the last 100 years.
However, the spokesman added, those countries that committed miscalculation in their ties with the Israeli regime saw the outcome, as the regime has caused insecurity in every single it has been present.
On the Iranian funds blocked in South Korea, Khatibzadeh said that Seoul has definitely a debt to pay to Iran, but has failed to take any effective measure to settle.
He dismissed media speculations on the issues and noted that it was a bilateral issue between Iran and South Korea which should be solved within the framework of bilateral relations.
The Iranian diplomat slammed the decision to suspend Russia’s membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council, saying that human rights should be politicized and the HRC should do its job regardless of Western countries’ abuse.
He noted that the UNHRC’s resolution was fully political and described it as an abuse of UN mechanisms in line with political objectives of Western countries.
On the claims about ownership of the three islands in the Persian Gulf, Khatibzadeh underscored that those three islands were eternally inseparable parts of Iran and repetition of unfounded statements would change their legal situation.
Responding to the agreement between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to exploit Arash oil and gas field, the spokesman stressed that the field was a joint field and Iran has announced that the field should not be exploited until Iran and Kuwait demarcate their borders.
He also said that the Kuwaiti party has announced readiness to jointly exploit the field with Iran.
The spokesman also confirmed the appointment of Hossein Al-e Sadeq as the new ambassador of Iran to Iraq.
Source: Islamic Republic News Agency – IRNA
