Raisi calls on Washington and the European parties to respect their commitments
Iran seeks to consolidate “nuclear gains” .. France calls for a speedy resumption of negotiations
Iran's nuclear weapon is a problem that spoils Tehran's relationship with the world.
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Ibrahim Raisi.
AFP
Emmanuel Macron.
AFP
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed that negotiations on the nuclear agreement must preserve Iran's "rights", while his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron called on him, in a phone call on Monday, for a speedy resumption of the Vienna talks.
In the first announced communication with a Western official since taking office last week, the Iranian president stressed that his country will work to preserve “deterrence” in the waters of the Gulf and the Sea of Oman, amid accusations and warnings directed by several parties to Tehran, most notably Washington and Tel Aviv, against the background of the attack. It targeted an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea, which Iran denies being involved in.
The hardline conservative Raisi was succeeded by moderate President Hassan Rouhani, whose reign witnessed a policy of relative openness to the West, the most prominent of which was the conclusion of the 2015 Vienna Agreement with six major powers on Iran's nuclear program, which has become suspended since the unilateral US withdrawal from it in 2018.
Raisi said: "In any negotiation, the rights of the Iranian people and the interests of our nation must be preserved," according to a statement by the Iranian presidency, stressing the need for Washington and the European parties to the agreement to respect their commitments under it.
For its part, the French presidency indicated that Macron called on Iran “to quickly resume negotiations in Vienna in order to reach an end, without delay, to all its nuclear activities that constitute a violation of the agreement,” its official name is the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”
Iran concluded the agreement with the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, after years of tension and hard negotiations.
And it allowed the lifting of many of the sanctions that were imposed on Tehran, in exchange for limiting its nuclear activities and ensuring the peacefulness of its program.
However, its effects have become null and void since former US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw his country from it and re-impose sanctions that caused a severe economic and living crisis in Iran.
US President Joe Biden, who assumed his duties in early 2021, expressed his intention to return to the agreement on the condition that Iran returns to respect its obligations under it, which has retreated from most of them as of 2019 in response to the American withdrawal from it.
Iran and the major powers, with indirect US participation, are engaged in talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the agreement.
Six rounds were held between April and June, with no date set for a new round.
Iranian officials had previously emphasized that the resumption of negotiations would wait for the new government to assume its duties, while an EU official spoke, at the end of last week, about the possibility of the parties returning to talks in early September.
In his swearing-in speech on Thursday, Raisi had expressed his support for "any diplomatic plans" to lift sanctions, while stressing that the policy of pressure and sanctions would not push Iran to retreat from its "rights".
He assured Macron that "the Americans have clearly violated their obligations by imposing new sanctions" and even expanded them "to include the humanitarian services sector."
The two sides stressed the common desire to strengthen bilateral relations.
Raisi’s assumption of his duties came in light of tension with the West against the backdrop of accusations leveled by the United States, Britain and Israel against Iran, of being behind the attack on the tanker “M/T Mercer Street”, operated by an Israeli businessman, in the Arabian Sea on July 29.
The attack, which the US military said was carried out by "made in Iran" drones, killed two crew members, a British and a Romanian.
Tehran denies these accusations, but finds itself the focus of threats from its two enemies, Washington, which spoke of coordinating a "collective response", and Tel Aviv, which said it knows how to act "individually" against Iran.
He told Macron's two presidents that "Iran is serious about establishing security and stability and maintaining deterrence in the Gulf region and the Sea of Oman," according to the Iranian presidency, without directly mentioning the tanker issue.
Macron highlighted, according to a statement from the Elysee, the importance France attaches to "maintaining maritime security and freedom of navigation" in a region considered key to global economic activity, especially oil exports.
And on Monday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken again vowed to punish Iran, because the world cannot allow "impunity."
During a virtual session of the UN Security Council on maritime security, he said that the targeting of the tanker was part of "a series of attacks and other provocative behavior," adding, "All our countries must hold these officials accountable.
Failure to do so will only fuel their sense of impunity and encourage others who tend to ignore the maritime order.”
Tehran had previously rejected Western accusations against the tanker issue, and warned that it would respond to any military "adventurism" that might target it.
Analysts placed the attack in the context of a naval "war" between Iran and Israel, as each side had previously accused the other of targeting its ships in the Gulf region and the Sea of Oman, all the way to the Red and Mediterranean Bahrain.
In their conversation, Raisi and Macron also discussed regional issues, including Lebanon and Iraq.
Raisi assured his interlocutor that Iran "will support any step towards stability and improving the economic conditions of the Lebanese people, and we welcome France's support for these efforts."
The French presidency indicated that Macron called on Iran "to quickly resume negotiations in Vienna in order to reach their termination and put an end, without delay, to all of its nuclear activities, which constitute a violation of the agreement."
• The agreement made it possible to lift many of the sanctions that were imposed on Tehran, in exchange for limiting its nuclear activities and ensuring the peacefulness of its programme. However, its effects have become null and void since former US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw his country from it and re-impose sanctions that caused a severe economic and living crisis in Iran.
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