Raisi says Iran won’t give in to excessive demands

Raisi made the remarks in an address to a gathering of people in city of Semnan, held to mark the 42nd anniversary of the students’ takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, commonly known as the “Den of Espionage.”

“As Iran has already announced, we will never leave the negotiating table, but will resist excessive demands that would lead to violation of the Iranian nation’s interests,” president said, according to Press TV.

He reiterated that the Islamic Republic seeks “result-oriented” negotiations with the aim of lifting Washington’s anti-Iran sanctions, which the U.S. reinstated in 2018 after it unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

U.S. not only quit the JCPOA and returned sanctions, it also added new harsh sanctions under different names.

“We will never compromise on the rightful demand of the Iranian nation, namely the lifting of the cruel sanctions,” Press TV quoted Raisi as saying.

The remarks come a day after new Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri and chief negotiator announced that the next round of nuclear talks in Vienna with the aim of lifting U.S. sanctions will be held on November 29.

In a statement on Wednesday, the European Union also confirmed the report and said participants will “continue the discussions on the prospect of a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides.”

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA – France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China – began negotiations earlier this year for a possible revival of the nuclear deal. The negotiations started in April after the Joe Biden administration showed willingness to rejoin the accord and end the so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran starred his predecessor, Donald Trump.

The talks have been stalled since Iran’s presidential election in June. Iran’s new administration has dismissed the prospects of partaking in “talks for the sake of talks” and said the U.S. and EU face a decision-making crisis.

Biden, for his part, has failed to provide Iran with a guarantee that the U.S. would not leave the JCPOA again.

The 2015 nuclear deal was endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231. Its violation was a breach of international law.

On Monday, Biden apologized to other world leaders for Trump’s withdrawal from another globally-endorsed accord, the Paris climate agreement.

“I guess I shouldn't apologize, but I do apologize for the fact that the United States, the last administration, pulled out of the Paris accord. It put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit,” he said during a session on “action and solidarity” at the United Nations’ climate summit in Glasgow.

Biden, however, has not apologized for Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement, but rather, has kept the inhumane sanctions targeting the Iranian population intact.

In his Thursday remarks, President Raisi stressed that his administration will not back down on safeguarding the Iranian nation’s interests, adding, “We will pursue both the removal and the neutralization of the sanctions simultaneously.”

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranian authorities to “neutralize the sanctions” through efforts aimed to materialize self-sufficiency and economic prosperity, at the same time that they pursue diplomatic channels to remove them.

The Iranian president also noted that the Iranian people have always denounced the meddlesome measures of the United States in the region, including their latest conduct.

He was making a reference to the U.S. seizure of an Iranian oil shipment late last month that led to a confrontation between the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the vessel that had stolen the shipment in what Iran slammed as “an act of piracy” in the strategic Sea of Oman, where the IRGC Navy succeeded in landing its forces on the ship’s deck and navigating it towards Iranian waters.

The Iranian people, Raisi continued, are always thankful to the revolutionary guards for protecting Iran’s dignity and independence.

Source: Tehran Times