Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Iran will never cross its red line and will always pursue restoration of the nation’s absolute rights in the talks aimed at the removal of sanctions.
Iran’s principal policy is to thwart the sanctions’ impact, Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday, which does not contract bids aimed at lifting the “cruel and unilateral” restrictions.
The foreign minister said Iran would never tie its interests to China, the United States, Russia, and Europe, but would cooperate with any country in the East and the West that meets its national interests based on mutual respect.
Amir-Abdollahian said European countries should respect the noble, civilized and cultured Iranian nation since mutual respect would benefit both sides.
Pointing to Washington’s move to waive sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar, Amir-Abdollahian said the money would be released within the framework of the SWIFT, the global provider of secure financial messaging services.
The top diplomat said based on the agreement reached between Tehran and Washington, Iran can use the money to meet its needs.
On September 11, US President Joe Biden’s administration issued a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets from South Korea to Qatar with no concern about the sanctions.
The report released early Tuesday said the Biden administration has also agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States. The five detainees were identified as Mehrdad Moein Ansari, Kambiz Attar Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour Kofrani, Amin Hassanzadeh, and Kaveh Lotfollah Afrasiabi.
In an exclusive interview with the American broadcast television network NBC on Tuesday, President Ebrahim Raeisi underscored Iran’s full authority on its recently-released assets, saying it is the Islamic Republic that decides how to spend the funds and that the money will be spent “wherever we need it.”
“This money belongs to the Iranian people, the Iranian government, so the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money.”
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations also confirmed on Tuesday that five Iranians detained illegally in the United States on charges of circumventing US sanctions will soon be released as part a prisoner swap deal between Tehran and Washington.
Europe’s policy of ‘playing with time’ won’t go unanswered
Speaking to reporters, Amir-Abdollahian censured the lack of commitment on the part of the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), after the US withdrawal under then President Donald Trump in 2018.
He warned that Europe’s “playing with time” and imposing sanctions on Iranian individuals would not go unanswered.
“We do not leave the opposite sides’ moves unanswered. They cannot ask for negotiations on the one hand, and pressure Iran by repeating and continuing wrong policies on the other.”
The minister expressed regret over a decision by Britain, France, and Germany to retain their ballistic missile- and nuclear-related sanctions against Iran in violation of the JCPOA. “Unfortunately, the three European countries seek to escape forward by applying false pressure.”
He said instead of remaining committed to their obligations after the US withdrawal, the trio have been playing with time and using it as a tool to refrain from taking even one step towards their commitments.
He said sanctions would have no impact on Iran’s will and only prove the US has not abandoned its excessive demands.
The sanctions were due to expire in October under the JCPOA. The European trio, aka the E3, however, announced on Thursday they intended to keep the bans beyond the deadline.
Reacting to the decision shortly afterward, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it considered it to be “an illegal measure,” and contrary to the trio’s commitments under the JCPOA and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which has endorsed the JCPOA. “The decision amounts to a tension-building measure, which is taken in bad faith,” read a statement by the ministry.
