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Pezeshkian: Iran will not leave negotiating table
Talks will only succeed without ‘pressure, threats’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reaffirmed Tehran’s commitment to diplomacy while firmly rejecting US unilateralism, telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that Tehran will not walk away from the negotiating table even as Washington continues its attacks.
“We are engaged in dialogue; yet, every time we talk to the US, they launch new attacks. Nevertheless, we will not walk away from the negotiating table,” President Pezeshkian said on Thursday evening when he met President Putin on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit and the Caspian Sea environmental summit in Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan.
“Proposals were exchanged, both from our side and from the Americans, and we have made our own revisions to them. Once finalized, we intend to sit down with the relevant intermediaries to consolidate and conclude the matter,” Pezeshkian said.
Pezeshkian also thanked Russia for its positions at the regional level and in the United Nations, as well as its role in checking the unchecked assertion of unilateralism.
“Our goal is to end the conflict and ensure the rights of the Iranian nation are respected within the framework of international law; however, if the US insists on pursuing a path of unilateralism, this will not be feasible,” Pezeshkian stressed.
The war started with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, while Washington and Tehran were locked in negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
The warring parties agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that spelled out a framework for a permanent resolution to the conflict, but the US violations of the agreement prompted a resumption of military operations.
Negotiations have effectively been at an impasse since then, and recent indirect talks between the US and Iran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly failed to produce a breakthrough.
Despite a hiatus in negotiations, exchange of messages and proposals through regional mediators are underway to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy shipping route.
According to Iranian officials, Tehran is reviewing a Washington’s response to its recent proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was delivered to US officials during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Addressing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit on Friday, Pezeshkian said negotiations will only succeed without “pressure and threats”.
“Negotiation conducted in the shadow of force is not negotiation, it is imposition and coercion,” he said, warning that sanctions on Iran would affect “regional trade, connectivity, energy, and order."
The comments came as Pezeshkian on Monday said talks with the United States to end the war that began in late February were meaningless and only resulted in renewed attacks.
“With an enemy that everyday resorts to assassination, sanctions, pressure and threats, and that breaks its commitments, negotiations are meaningless,” he noted.