President: Iran will never abandon own peaceful nuclear program
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will never retreat from its peaceful nuclear program, no matter the pressure or threats it faces, dismissing US President Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric.
Pezeshkian made the remarks in an address to the sixth edition of the Tehran Dialogue Forum in the Iranian capital on Sunday.
He was responding to Trump’s recent statement that the United States must ensure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons while threatening to launch attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear program.
The president emphasized that as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran has the right to use peaceful nuclear technology and conduct nuclear research for various purposes, including health, agriculture, industry, and other vital sectors.
“The continued claims by others that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons are nothing but a repetition of baseless and warmongering allegations,” he stated.
Pezeshkian also responded to Trump’s branding of Iran as a regional threat during his recent trip to West Asia.
“Are we the ones bombing homes and killing scientists, scholars, and innocent people? Are we threatening the world with weapons, or are they, who have come to our region with threats?” he asked.
“Did we assassinate Ismail Haniyeh in Iran? Do we support such killings? It is the criminals who accuse others of destabilizing the world. This is the death of ethics in politics — and it is their doing.”
Sowing discord in region
Foreign powers, according to the president, are deliberately sowing discord among regional states to justify their interference and looting.
“We’ve lived alongside our neighbors for thousands of years, but they try to divide us. They send weapons so that we fight among ourselves, and then come to the region under the pretext of peace to plunder our resources,” Pezeshkian said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who also addressed the conference, said the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip proves that the fate of the region should not be tied to the decisions made at the think tanks of extra-regional powers.
“For the first time in decades, a historic opportunity has arisen for the initiative in regional developments to be in the hands of the countries of the region themselves, instead of external actors,” he added.
“Our nations can open a new path for development, peace, and cooperation by reclaiming the right to self-determination and designing a future based on their collective will; a future that is shaped not in the think tanks of extra-regional powers but in regional capitals and based on local needs, values, and realities.”
The top Iranian diplomat underlined that peace and security in the West Asian region are not possible without a “candid, deep, and comprehensive” review of the Palestinian issue.
Relations with Europe
He also referred to Iran’s relations with Europe, saying that Tehran is ready to rebuild trust with European powers.
"Iran is ready, should it observe genuine will and an independent approach from the European parties to begin a new chapter in its relations with Europe," Araghchi said.
On Friday, senior Iranian diplomats met with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany for talks on the status of US-Iran nuclear negotiations.
European governments have recently threatened to trigger the “snapback” mechanism under the 2015 deal, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance – an option that expires in October.
Following the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, relations between Iran and Europe began to deteriorate due to the Europe’s failure to fulfill its commitments under the agreement.
Iran’s foreign minister in an article published by French weekly Le Point said the snapback mechanism was designed as a last-resort dispute tool and now is wielded as diplomatic leverage.