TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi says the Islamic Republic will neither leave the negotiating table with the P4+1 group of countries on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal nor tie its progress to the accord.
“We will not tie the country’s progress and settlement of the problems to the JCPOA (the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). The Iranian negotiating team will not leave the negotiating table, either,” Raisi said in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman.
He said Iran’s progress and economy would never be kept back on account of other people’s “smiles and scowls.” The negotiating team, Raisi said, would continue its work based on “very strong” arguments.
“We will seriously address Iran’s economic and cultural circumstances regardless of the path the [JCPOA revival] negotiations take and what will happen in the future.”
Despite the enemies’ wish, he said, Iran’s affairs would be pursued with participation of the people and the elites and the country’s future will be bright. “We will not let the enemies fulfill their objective, which is to paralyze production and destroy the Iranian economy and culture.”
Negotiations have been held between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries – Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – in the Austrian capital of Vienna since April last year to restore the JCPOA, which was ditched by former U.S. President Donald Trump in May 2018.
While offering his condolences for the days of mourning for Imam Hussein (AS), President Raisi said, “One of the important aspects of this great event is management implications of Imam Hussain (AS) in Ashura, which caused this event to remain alive forever and become the source of human transformations in the universe”.
The President continued to consider Martyr Soleimani’s school as an extension of the Ashura movement and said, “In the city and homeland of Martyr Soleimani, it is very important that the managers consider the different aspects of the school of this noble martyr, especially the manifestation of the belief of ‘WE CAN’, in their activities”.
Raisi described the continuity of Martyr Soleimani’s school as sincerity in action, striving to solve the problems of the people and philanthropy and said, “Today, the serious need of the country and the demand of the Supreme Leader is to solve people’s problems, which cannot be realized except with a jihadist spirit and a revolutionary outlook”.
The President stated that the existing poverty and deprivation is not what Kerman province deserves, and addressed the managers of the province, “The government is determined to change this situation and you have the duty to employ motivated and transformational personnel in this direction and pave the way to solve the problems”.
Ayatollah Raisi said that the realisation of the government’s goals in Kerman province requires careful planning to use the capacities of this province, and criticising the fact that a large part of Kerman’s mineral capacities remain unused, he said, “Why are 200 mines in Kerman province still inactive? The Supreme Council of Mines should immediately investigate the cause, if the fault lies with the user, the mine should be handed over to the competent people”.
