FM spox: Iran staving off confrontational approach to resolve nuclear disputes
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran has always been committed to diplomatic principles regarding its nuclear issue and has never had a confrontational approach toward resolving the dispute over the issue.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been committed to diplomatic principles regarding its nuclear issue, and we have never had a confrontational approach, because the nature of our nuclear activities is peaceful,” Baqaei said during his weekly presser on Monday.
“On the other hand, we see no justification for others to raise the issue of confrontation,” he said, adding that naturally, the answer to confrontation will be confrontation.
In 2015, Iran reached a nuclear deal with Britain, Germany, France, the United States, Russia and China, which is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The US quit the agreement in 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term as US president, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments under the deal.
The US unilateral withdrawal from the agreement and re-imposition of sanctions removed under the deal left the future of the JCPOA in limbo.
However, Iran has been trying to revive the JCPOA during the past years and have held several rounds of talks with the European parties to the deal, which their non-compliance to the agreement had a great impact on the implementation of the agreement.
There have been speculations on new negotiations between Tehran and Washington on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program in recent months, especially after Donald Trump’s return to power in the United States in January.
However, Trump’s language of threats and imposition of sanctions against Iran have made Iranian officials skeptical of negotiations with the US.
Iranian officials say that negotiations under pressure are not meaningful.
In response to a question about any discussion about Iran’s nuclear issue between Russian and US presidents during their recent talks, Baqaei said that, “There may have been some discussion between the US and Russia regarding the Iranian nuclear issue as one of the international issues.”
He also responded to a question about whether the Russian foreign minister had raised the idea of mediation during his recent visit to Tehran, saying that, “I have already said that regarding these issues, given their importance, some parties may express their readiness to raise these issues in good faith. Therefore, from this perspective, it is natural for some countries to raise the issue of providing assistance if needed.”