Iranian Foreign Minister to leave for Russia Tomorrow

The news was announced by the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh at his weekly press briefing on Monday.

At his remarks, the spokesman referred to the US new demands at the Vienna talks, and said the negotiating teams have returned to their countries for having a break upon the request of the coordinator of the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Some have talked of a deadlock or end of the talks, while it is just a break according to what explained, the spokesman noted.

He went on to say that there has remained some issues about which should be decided in Washington.

Now, we’re awaiting the US response, said the spokesman adding that consultations at various levels still continue.

Interests of the great Iranian nation are the elements figuring the framework for the talks, he added.

Iranian Majlis (Parliament) in a statement on Sunday reiterated that removal of the sanctions has to be effective and comprehensive; lifting part of the sanction or just removing them on paper do not provide “our national interests.”

Commenting on the halt in Iran-Saudi Arabia talks, Khatibzadeh said a time was declared by “our friends” in Iraq for the fifth round of negotiations between Tehran and Riyadh, but it has not been fixed yet.

Turning to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) recent move to target Zionists' center of plot and evil in Iraq, the spokesman said Islamic Republic of Iran will never tolerate existence of a center of plotting on its borders.

It is not acceptable that one of our neighbors which has deep interaction and relation with Iran became a center for creating threats for the Islamic Republic, Khatibzadeh underlined.

He went on to say that Zionist regime of Israel has repeatedly created insecurity from the Iraqi soil.

Iran has, in many instances, noticed that the Iraqi government not letting its borders turn into borders of insecurity for Iran (as the two have long joint border crossings in west and southwest of Iran), he stressed.

As the spokesman underlined, the Zionist regime activities in the region is under Iran’s complete and careful observation.

Islamic Republic of Iran expects the Iraqi government to end this situation once and forever, Khatibzadeh noted.

About the approach of the Iranian government in the Vienna talks, the spokesman said the government of President Ebrahim Raisi does not keep anything dependent on those negotiations.

The United States should first become a member of the JCPOA and prove it is loyal; then it can talk about other members of the international deal, he added.

The former US president Donald Trump withdrew from the July 2015 nuclear deal, aka JCPOA, in May 2018 and imposed as he claimed the highest level of sanctions against Iran in November the same year.

As Khatibzadeh has underlined, there is no third side in the JCPOA; Iran and the four countries are members of the deal and the Joint Commission meeting is held [should be held] with participation of all members.

Unfortunately, administration of the US President Joe Biden makes a [new] move every day in the talks, Khatibzadeh underlined noting that the reason why the Vienna talks lasted for months is that Washington tried to forge time of the deadline, create media excitement and release wrong stories in order to make Iran withdraw from its interests and rights.

END