Speaking in his weekly press conference, Nasser Kanaani said that full removal of sanctions on the Iranian nation and government was among Iran’s fundamental goals.
Noting that the United States responded to Iran’s response to the draft proposed by the EU coordinator with delay, Kanaani said that Iran had made its contribution to the talks to revive the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and was waiting for the US response.
Likening the efforts made to reach an agreement on reviving the JCPOA to a marathon, the spokesman said that Iran took responsible steps and conveyed its views to the European side in order to protect Iran’s interest with a happy ending for the process.
If the opposite side has the political determination and acts constructively and progressively, Kanaani said, a deal is available provided that Iran’s response was reasonable and constructive.
On the Europeans’ demanding Iran to help solve the energy crisis, Kanaani said that Iran is an important supplier of energy and has preserved its share of the market despite the sanctions.
However, the spokesman added, Iran could be a potential supplier for the European counties to meet their energy demands if a deal is reached in Vienna.
He noted that the Foreign Ministry’s main mission was to ensure receiving guarantees in the talks because any possible deal could be violated if there were no guarantees as happened when the US exited the JCPOA in 2018 while Iran remained compliant with the deal.
The spokesman also complained about the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA)’s political behavior, noting that keeping the nuclear watchdog far from politics was an important aspect of the guarantee.
He also emphasized that closing Iran’s cases related to the safeguards issues in the IAEA was a major demand of Iran.
On the reports by the Israeli media on the Zionist regime’s alleged attacks on Iran-controlled sites and locations in Syria, the spokesman dismissed such claims as unfounded, underlining that Iran condemned all Israeli measures against Syrian infrastructure as illegal, illegitimate, aggressive, and a violation of international law.
Kanaani gave a positive assessment of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian’s recent trip to Moscow carrying the EU’s message to Russia.
The spokesman called on Iraqi political movements to hold talks and return to the political process, praising the Iraqi people’s hospitality during the Arbaeen rite when hundreds of thousands of Iranians flock to Najaf and Karbala to hold the Arbaeen march.
On the recent tensions in the Persian Gulf over the US sail drones, Kanaani elaborated that Iran’s destroyer had detained a US sail drone that was deemed a threat to freedom of navigation and then moved it to a safe place.
The Iranian diplomat said that no country had the right to pose threat against navigation routes in international waters and disrupt innocent passage.
He called the allegations against the Iranian crew of a passenger airplane detained in Argentina baseless, calling for their release as no evidence has been provided showing that the Iranian nationals have committed any crimes.
The spokesman also said that Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi would attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan on September 15-16.
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