kharrazi Archives - Iran News Daily

Kharrazi: Iran Will Never Surrender to US Bullying

reporter 1222 — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 06:09:44 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Kamal Kharrazi, said on Friday that over the past 40 years, Iran has shown that it will not give in to the bullying of foreigners, noting that mounting US pressure has made Iranians more determined to continue on their path.

Kharrazi said that the unilateral and misguided policies of the three European member states of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, led by the United States, to stop Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities have always backfired, as Iran has become more determined to develop its nuclear technology, according to IRNA.

The US push to extend the Iran arms embargo in the UN Security Council and the three European countries’ anti-Iran move at the International Atomic Energy Agency will not only fail to deter Iran but undoubtedly lead to the collapse of the nuclear agreement as well, Kharrazi added.

The West must understand that neither economic sanctions nor an arms embargo will deter Iran from pursuing an independent strategic path. Iran has so far pursued its policy of self-sufficiency in the face of maximum Western pressure and has achieved successes in producing the defensive weapons it needs, he said.

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the nuclear deal and later reimposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran on the back of the deal. The US intransigence flew in the face of the fact that the deal has been ratified by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the form of Resolution 2231.

Although it is no longer a party to the deal, Washington has recently launched a campaign to renew the embargo on the sale of conventional weapons to the Islamic Republic that will expire under the JCPOA in October.

The US recently served the UNSC with a draft resolution to extend the arms embargo.

Washington has threatened to force a “snapback” of all sanctions against Iran if its drive to renew the arms embargo failed.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo urged the UN Security Council to extend the expiring arms embargo as world powers from China to Europe pushed back against US threats to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran if the weapons ban lapses, according to Bloomberg.

China and Russia – veto-wielding members of the council – warned on Tuesday that they won’t support that effort and were joined by Europe in disputing a Trump administration assertion that it holds the right to reimpose UN sanctions even though the US quit the accord in 2018.

Addressing a virtual UNSC meeting on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the United States was an “outlaw bully” to whom the world body should not surrender, warning that giving in to Washington’s pressure threatens to restore the “law of the jungle.”

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Time for Europe to speed up INSTEX implementation: Kharrazi

reporter 1222 — Sat, 11 May 2019 10:31:16 +0000

Kamal Kharrazi said on Saturday that the next two months will be a good interval for the Europeans to fulfill Iran’s demands, including the activation of the financial mechanism to skirt US sanctions, known as INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges).

Iran revealed on Wednesday countermeasures to US’ withdrawal from the nuclear deal, giving the other remaining parties to the JCPOA a 60-day ultimatum to comply with their commitments, particularly those regarding Iran’s economic interests in the banking and energy sectors, before reducing further commitments to the agreement stage by stage.

Now that the long-awaited mechanism has been established, Kharrazi added, “it should become operational as soon as possible to fulfill its already delayed expectations.”

This is the least the EU could do to prove its commitments to the previous agreements, he said.

Despite reducing the commitments, Iran says at any given time that its demands are met, it will resume complying with the suspended commitments, which have been made impossible to continue due to the US measures and sanctions.

The decision to suspend some obligations to the JCPOA follows Washington’s move to ramp up pressure against Iran, by re-imposing new sanctions, including restrictions on Iran’s low-level uranium enrichment, and ending the sanctions waivers for Iran’s major oil clients in an attempt to drive the country’s oil exports to zero.

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EU has so far failed to ensure Iran’s benefits from JCPOA: Kharrazi

reporter 1222 — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 09:30:08 +0000

The Head of Iran’s Foreign Policy Strategic Council Kamal Kharrazi said the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal have so far failed to take the necessary measures to ensure Iran’s benefits from the agreement.

The Iranian official made the remarks in a meeting with visiting British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, on Sunday in Tehran.

“The imposition of sanctions and exertion of pressure, with a lack of immediate reaction from the EU to implement its JCPOA-related commitments, will bring about serious consequences,” he warned.

Kharrazi then touched upon regional developments, saying that if UK really seeks to end the conflict in Yemen, it needs to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, and call on the aggressors to cease the war there.

“Europe made a huge mistake in Syria by supporting terrorist-sponsor states,” he said.

Kharrazi then commended the Astana peace process for having progressed well in ending unrest in Syria, adding “together with the Geneva talks, it will play an effective role in finding a political solution to end the Syrian crisis by forming the Constitutional Committee.”

Talking about bilateral talks, Kharrazi said there are ample opportunities for cooperation between Tehran and London, stressing that the cooperation requires building trust between the two sides.

The British diplomat, for his part, said his country seeks to build trust with Iran and expand bilateral cooperation.

He said UK’s position toward the nuclear deal is completely different from US, adding “we are seeking a European mechanism that could ensure the success of the JCPOA.”

Not only Iran, but also Europe is a victim of the wrong policies of US government, he added.

He then talked about the conflict in Yemen, stressing the need for a Yemeni-Yemeni dialogue to overcome the current situation.

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Iran categorically dismisses claim of Kharrazi-Kerry meeting

reporter 1222 — Tue, 15 May 2018 05:20:03 +0000

A diplomat of Iranian embassy in Paris issued a statement on Sunday dismissing the claim that there has been a meeting between former Iranian FM Kharrazi and former US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Iranian Embassy’s Press Attaché in Paris, Hamid Moradkhani, asserted that the news of a secret meeting between Iranian former FM Kamal Kharrazi and US former Secretary of State John Kerry is total lie, in line with previous moves of media hype against Tehran.

The Iranian diplomat issued a statement late on Sunday reiterating that Mr. Kharrazi is visiting Paris to attend the meetings of Leaders for Peace Foundation.

“The aforementioned foundation was established on the initiative of Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the former Prime Minister of France, and this is the first meeting of the foundation as a start of the Leaders for Peace Foundation. Mr. Kharrazi will be Iran’s permanent representatives at frequent meetings of this foundation,” reads the statement.

“There are 27 other representatives from other countries which have become a member of this foundation; all of these representatives are whether former prime ministers or former foreign ministers in their countries but are currently representing the governments of their countries,” highlighted the diplomat in his statement.

He underlined that the only meeting of Mr. Kharrazi on Sunday was his meeting with Mr. Raffarin.

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