Iran open to talks, but will never be blackmailed: VP
Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Iran is open to negotiations and interaction with the Western countries, but will never be blackmailed.
Aref made the remark as he toured an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear industry achievements held at the Atomic Energy Agency Organization (AEOI) on Monday.
He referred to recent “baseless remarks” about activating the snapback mechanism against Iran, saying that the Western countries repeatedly threatened to activate the process and have seen Iran’s reaction, especially during the tenure of US President Donald Trump, “but they themselves know that although we are open to negotiations, but we will never be blackmailed.”
Aref said that if the Western countries trigger the snapback mechanism that fully reinstates anti-Tehran sanctions that were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal, they have practically moved toward the complete death of that agreement.
The Iranian official also warned the Western countries that the strategy of the Islamic Republic is “action for action.”
However, he said that the approach of the current government is constructive interaction and negotiation aimed at lifting the “cruel sanctions” reimposed by the West on Iran after the US withdrawal from the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
He recommended that parties to the agreement return to full compliance with the deal, saying, “We have not withdrawn from the JCPOA, and if the other parties return to the JCPOA, we are ready.”
In 2015, Iran proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the JCPOA with six world powers. However, Washington’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.
In 2019, Iran started to scale back the limits it had accepted under the JCPOA after the other parties, especially the European ones, failed to live up to their commitments.