Rouhani: Iran won’t hesitate to lift sanctions, reclaim people’s rights
President Hassan Rouhani said the Iranian government will not hesitate to do anything in its power to realize the rights of the Iranian people through the removal of sanctions imposed by the United States.
“Anytime we see that we can reclaim the rights of the Iranian people, I, in the capacity of president, would not spare a moment to do this. We do not care if some people are upset about this,” Rouhani said addressing a ceremony held to inaugurate a number of agricultural projects across the country on Thursday.
He denounced as “cruel” and “inhumane” the sanctions that were imposed by former US president Donald Trump, saying the sanctions, which persist to this date, have impacted all sectors of the country, Press TV wrote.
“But some people are not familiar with this [fact]. They make up percentages and say 30% of the problems are due to the sanctions and 70% due to mismanagement,” he said.
Such estimates, the president continued, are completely wrong and misjudged “because they do not know in what areas the sanctions have [adverse] impacts and cause problems, and they do not know that the sanctions affect the entire production, agriculture and industry sectors.”
Trump began to put pressure on Iran after taking office on January 20, 2017. He threatened foreign leaders to not do business with Iran and issued new sanctions on the Islamic Republic only months into his presidency – in moves that were denounced in Tehran as violations of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
He finally withdrew the US from the deal, officially referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018 and instituted the “highest level” of economic sanctions against Iran, prompting Tehran to take tit-for-tat measures in response to his bellicose Iran policy.
His successor, Joe Biden, has promised to abandon that approach and rejoin the JCPOA. Diplomatic efforts began in Vienna early this month on revival of the deal.
While the US is not an official participant in the talks, its diplomats hold regular meetings with the other signatories to the deal except for Iran on the sidelines of the Vienna talks, which have been described as “constructive” and “businesslike” by the participants and the US.
The participants are to resume another round of discussions in Vienna next week on the fate of the UN-endorsed agreement, after consultations in their respective capitals.
Rouhani further said the government will not hesitate to act once it sees that the other side is ready to observe laws and regulations "no matter what the opponents say" or "whatever force they exert".
On Wednesday, Rouhani said Iran is seeking the “strict implementation” of the JCPOA, and “not a single word more or less”.
“The JCPOA must be implemented effectively,” Rouhani said. “We want the strict implementation of the JCPOA, not a single word more or less.”
The president said that the revival of the nuclear pact must include three steps, the first of which is the removal of the sanctions by the United States.
“The second step is verification [by Iran], and we can announce [the result of] the verification in a short span of time,” he said.
The third step, the president added, will be Iran’s complete resumption of its nuclear obligations which “we will execute thoroughly”.
Defending negotiating team
Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday issued a defense of the negotiating team at talks in Vienna, following days of growing criticism by certain media.
Iran's team is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, who earlier this week slammed the English-language Press TV network for quoting uniformed and anonymous sources on the talks.
National TV on Wednesday also aired a program that implied Iran's diplomats were tricked by the US regarding the JCPAO, and are set to give concessions again.
"A small but loud minority have brought forth everything in their power to target Iran's representatives" at the talks, the ministry said in a statement, AFP wrote.
The Foreign Ministry said the national broadcaster and its English channel "aired serial pseudo-documentaries" and leveled "insults and slander", while showing Iran's enemies as "all-powerful and smart beings that have fooled" Iran.
This "damages the negotiators and hurts diplomatic efforts", it said, noting that sanctions have not "targeted a certain movement or party", but all of Iran.
The row began after Press TV quoted an unnamed "informed source" saying that Iran rejects the sequential lifting of sanctions. It added that verifying the lifting of sanctions needs "between three and six months.
Araqchi responded by tweeting "I don't know who the "informed source" of Press TV in Vienna is, but s/he is certainly not "informed".
Showing no sign of retreat, a Press TV official told state TV on Thursday that "many things are still unsaid".
In its statement, the ministry said it would release "non-confidential negotiation documents" related to the 2015 deal.
A senior US official on Wednesday said Washington had shared details of the sanctions it was prepared to lift with Tehran.
Iran has repeatedly demanded that all US sanctions reimposed since 2018 be lifted and stressed its readiness to return to nuclear commitments once it has been verified.
Source: Iran Daily