solhkhabar | Peace International News Agency Peace International News Agency , Peace News , International Agency News of Peace
“The Japanese PM Abe Shinzo’s initiative in his latest visit to Iran demonstrates that his attitude is to pay attention to the resolution of regional and international problems,” said Morteza Rahmani Movvahed in a press conference in Tokyo on Monday.
“Iran appreciates this move and believes his visit to Tehran was successful. Tehran is ready to seriously support this initiative in a bid to preserve peace and stability in the region,” he added.
He was referring to Abe’s historic visit to Iran, the first for a Japanese prime minister in the last 40 years since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He held high-level talks with Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
His visit was aimed at lowering the escalating tensions in the Middle East after the US announced it would send several warships to the Persian Gulf. Days later, several oil tankers were attacked in the Emirati coast of Fujairah. The US, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) accused Iran of being behind the attack. Tehran has strongly rejected the accusation.
As Abe was meeting the Iranian leader, two tankers, one of them a Japanese oil carrier, were attacked in the Sea of Oman. The US, Saudi and the UAE were quick to point the finger at Iran. However, they haven’t provided any substantial evidence of Iran’s role. No country has accepted their accusation.
“The coincidence of tankers attacks in the Persian Gulf and Abe’s visit to Iran clearly demonstrates that they were carried out by the enemies of the two countries’ relations and those who oppose Japan’s aid in bringing peace and stability to the region. I should reiterate that enemies of good Iran-Japan ties are not in these countries,” noted the Iranian envoy to Japan, referring to the US, Saudi and the UAE.
Rahmani Movvahed stressed that “Iran has always proved that it wants peace in the region”. He criticized foreign countries’ meddling, “the Zionist regime’s hallucinating ambitions” as well as “Arab radicalism” and the US “unreasonable military presence in the region” as the main sources of regional instability.
“The US return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiating table, sanctions removal and the US withdrawal from the region [are Iran’s expectations from the international community],” said head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Tokyo, answering a question about Iran’s expectations from the upcoming G20 meeting in Japan.
He tried to hammer home the message that Iran “is not seeking war with any country but that it will seriously confront any aggression”.
The Iranian diplomat called on the international community to make the US stop “its warmongering policies, provocative measures and economic terrorism that have harmed its own allies as well”.
“We will not exchange the Iranian nation and state’s independence with any points. If the international community resists such US measures, it will definitely win,” he mentioned.
He reminded the world countries about the US challenges such as economic sanctions, and withdrawal from international agreements, warning against “riots and instability that will replace the order and peace” as the consequences of US moves.
Rahmani Movvahed called the US statements about “talks without preconditions” deceitful, calling on Washington to return to the JCPOA from which President Donald Trump left in May 2018.
“We believe that the current US administration isn’t sincere in its words and all the world is witnessing the US president’s contradictory words and actions. As an example, the White House imposed sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical sector before Abe’s visit to Iran,” he said.
The Iranian envoy to the East Asian country clarified Tehran’s measures to reduce its nuclear commitments and a 60-day ultimatum to Europe, stressing they don’t mean that Iran is leaving the pact.
“Our moves are within articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA that has been agreed by all parts. According to these articles, each party can stop its duties in case the other parties fail to fulfill their own obligations. These moves don’t mean that we are withdrawing from the accord because Iran waited a year after the US withdrawal and didn’t see any special moves by the other parties,” he explained.
On 8 May, exactly a year after US President Donald Trump’s leaving the nuclear agreement, Iran announced measures to scale down some of its commitments and gave Europe 60 days to take actions before Tehran unveils the second phase of its decisions.
Tehran is urging Europe to normalize economic ties with Iran. Germany, France and the UK, also known as the E3, that signed the JCPOA in 2015, created a financial channel for trade with Iran called Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) late January. Iran also put in place a counterpart called Special Trade and Financing Instrument between Iran and Europe (STFI). No financial transactions have taken place through these entities so far.
“What do you expect from Iran that its bearing the full burden of maintaining the JCPOA?” he asked rhetorically, urging the international community, including Japan, to “pay close attention to these processes and ultimatums”, saying they must keep their end of the bargain if they want to save the deal.
The Iranian ambassador to Japan discussed the shooting down of a US spy drone in Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf last week, saying the US military presence in the region a threat to the stability in the area.
“Iran and the US borders are 11,000 kilometers away from each other. Pay close attention to what happened recently in the Persian Gulf. A US spy drone entered the Iranian borders and the Iranian military confronted it firmly,” Rahmani Movvahed recallled.
“The US military presence is targeting all the air and maritime peace and stability in the region. The US is telling lies that it’s countering terrorism in the region while it supports Daesh terrorists and other radicals,” he stressed, referring to the so-called Islamic State’s Arabic name.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had laid out 12 conditions for talks with Iran. One of those points was that Tehran should end its presence in regional countries such as Iraq and Syria.
“Our presence in Syria and Iraq is based on their respective governments’ invitations and the US lacks any competence to talk about this,” he warned emphatically.
Rahmani Movvahed also called the US accusations about Iran’s presence in Yemen a lie “because the country is surrounded from all fronts. How can Iran be present there?” he asked.
The Iranian envoy to Japan rejected the US proposal to hold talks with Iran under such conditions.
“As we have said, there won’t be any negotiations under pressure and sanctions. This shows common sense and wisdom. Talks with a bullying power is impossible,” he stressed.
9218**2050
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish
IRNA English