TEHRAN (Iran News) Iran’s Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad says US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign aiming to drive Iranian oil exports to zero is a dream, which will never come true.

The “maximum pressure” campaign is a failed policy that had been tested earlier and did not get a result, Paknejad said reacting to Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran.

He also hailed Iran’s self-sufficiency in various fields including oil industry and in developing oil and gas fields.

Trump signed a presidential memorandum to restore a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran that he had launched in his first term.

“So, this is one that I’m torn about,” the U.S. president said, referring to the memo. “Everybody wants me to sign it. I’ll do that. It’s very tough on Iran.”

Then he claimed the United States wanted to make a deal with Iran.

“We will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with Iran,” he said.

Trump said he was “unhappy” to sign the memo but that he had “not so much choice because we have to be strong and firm.”

“And I hope that it’s not going to have to be used in any great measure at all,” the U.S. president said.

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“The JCPOA must be implemented effectively,” Rouhani said on Wednesday. “We want the strict implementation of the JCPOA, not a single word more or less.”

He said Iran does not to put forward the demand during the ongoing talks, but suggested that Tehran will in the future press for compensation for the damages US sanctions inflicted upon the country.

Iran, said Rouhani, suffered hundreds of billions of dollars in damages under the US sanctions.

The US slapped several rounds of severe economic sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the JCPOA under former US president Donald Trump in May 2018. Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has promised to rejoin the landmark agreement and repeal the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran.

Tehran says it pursues the full removal of all the sanctions the US imposed or reimposed after its withdrawal from the deal. The Islamic Republic also maintains that it needs to verify the sanctions removal before it comes back to honoring all of its nuclear undertakings within the JCPOA.

Rouhani explained that the resurrection of the nuclear pact must include three steps, the first of which is the removal of the sanctions by the United States.

“The second step is verification [by Iran], and we can announce [the result of] the verification in a short span of time,” he said.

The third step, the president continued, will be Iran’s complete resumption of its nuclear obligations which “we will execute thoroughly.”

Rouhani said the three steps should be followed by confidence-building measures, asserting that Tehran will comply with the deal as long as it feels that all signatories to the deal are sincere, serious and determined to resolve the issue.

“Of course, this should not take a long time, but rather, we must finish this and reach results in a short time,” the Iranian chief executive stated.

Rouhani: Verification not very complicated

The president’s remarks came a day after the participants of the JCPOA Joint Commission and the US concluded the talks in order to return to their respective capitals for consultations. The next round of talks is expected to begin next week.

According to Rouhani, during the Tuesday meeting, the two sides discussed the issue of verification thoroughly. He added that “verification is not that complicated.”

He said the other parties seem to be serious, but they need to provide a detailed list of the sanctions that must be removed.

“In some steps, we took them to be serious, but in other steps, they spoke ambiguously,” he said.

Rouhani also stressed that all of the steps the Iranian negotiators have taken so far have been within the framework defined by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Khamenei has stated that Iran would reverse its nuclear measures only after all the sanctions are removed in one step that must be verified by the Islamic Republic.

He has also warned against protracted talks on restoring the JCPOA.

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“The entire current logic of the US policy is set on making Iran the focus of all containment and punishment efforts… That is a dead end,” Lavrov said in an interview with Sputnik on Friday.

He said the US sanctions on Iran “did not work before and will not work now”.

Lavrov advised US officials to abandon their “futile” efforts to “demonize Iran” and label the country as “the main problem of the region”.

He rather called for dialogue between the US and Iran to resolve issues. “We will help start such dialogue.”

The top diplomat said the remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – “stand for” the accord and blasted the US for trying to destroy it.

US not party to JCPOA

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday the United States cannot reimpose UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic on September 20 – which is one month after the US demanded activation of a snapback mechanism inside the Iran nuclear deal – because the US is not a party to the agreement anymore.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the US would return to the UN to have the sanctions reinstated on Iran on Sunday. The US would also do all it needed to make sure those sanctions are enforced, Pompeo said.

In his Thursday tweet, Zarif took issue with the US efforts to restore the UN sanctions, despite its having lost the right to do so after ditching the 2015 nuclear agreement, Press TV reported.

“Wrong again, @SecPompeo. Nothing new happens on 9/20,” Zarif said

“Just READ Res.2231,” Zarif added, referring to the Security Council resolution that has endorsed the JCPOA.

He reminded Pompeo that even the former US national security adviser John Bolton, the most aggressive Iran hawk who himself convinced Trump to quit the nuclear deal, was better versed in the implications of Washington’s withdrawal and its potential bid to return the UN sanctions.

“Bolton – who convinced the boss to order you to “CEASE US participation” – did [read the resolution],” Zarif’s tweet read.

The tweet also affixed excerpts of an August article by Bolton, in which he clearly noted that the attempt at snapback was “legally incorrect,” well guarded against inside the resolution, and could even “backfire on the US.”

“In his words: Process is not ‘simple,’ automatic or snappy. But intentionally ‘complex & lengthy,’” Zarif cited Bolton as saying in the article, and repeated, “US is NOT a participant [in the JCPOA].”

On August 20, Pompeo notified the United Nations of the US demand for all the UN Security Council sanctions on Iran to be restored, citing what he claimed to be Iranian violations of the nuclear deal. Tehran clinched the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with six world powers, including the US, in 2015, but Washington left the agreement under President Donald Trump three years later.

In reaction to the notification that was being handed to the UN Secretariat by Pompeo himself, the remaining signatories to the deal maintained that Washington could not initiate the mechanism because it had left the accord.

On August 14, the Security Council had also rejected a US-drafted resolution to extend an arms embargo on Iran that is due to expire in October under the JCPOA.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Leader says the only way to tackle corruption is to deal with corrupt elements.

Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said on Saturday financial corruption is a dangerous disease.

“People become hopeful when they see unrestrained and unreserved fight against corrupt individuals because financial and economic corruption is very dangerous, contagious ad infectious like the coronavirus,” said the Leader.

He expressed satisfaction over the measures adopted by the Judiciary to combat corruption, saying, “Fight against corruption, which is at its height at this juncture, should be done without reservation and based on justice and law and without doing injustice and oppression to innocent people.”

“The movement to fight corruption, which may be witnessed now in the Judiciary during Mr. Raisi’s term, began during the time of Mr. Amoli Larijani. He had started this effort from both within and outside of the Judiciary.”

“A key point in fighting corruption is supervision and reporting by the public. Legal infrastructures should be built for this purpose so that the security of reporters is protected and they feel the Judiciary supports them. Nevertheless, baseless accusations should not be allowed.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader underlined that the coronavirus outbreak is not over yet, urging all officials and people to take health protocols seriously in order to prevent a resurgence of the disease.

He also underlined the need for an “overhaul” in action.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the enemy leaves no stone unturned through media campaigns and creating pessimism in public opinion to neutralize any attempt aimed at bringing about reforms and overhaul in the system.

He urged authorities not to remain inactive and to bravely continue on the path to bringing about overhaul in order to counter efforts against change.

Ayatollah Khamenei also said that enemies’ efforts to bring the Iranian nation to its knees are futile.

“If we do our duty, by God’s grace, the hostilities of the evil U.S. and the evil UK as well as the European governments’ measures aimed at “maximum pressure,” as they call it, will fail. This will result in the Iranian nation’s punch striking them and pushing them back,” said the Leader on Saturday while speaking in a video conference meeting with Judiciary officials on the occasion of the National Judiciary Week.

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According To Iran News, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said that the US maximum pressure on Iran has not had any positive effect.

In a Monday tweet, Ulyanov wrote, “US claims that its maximum pressure policy on Iran is effective. Yes, results are very clear: increased tension in the P.Gulf, suffering of people in #Iran, reduced commitments of Tehran under #JCPOA, weakened non- proliferation regime.”

“But is there anything positive? No answer,” he added.

Following the unilateral withdrawal of Iran from the JCPOA, Iran tried to maintain the nuclear deal on the condition that other parties to the agreement comply with their commitments to the deal, but after a lapse of nearly two years and European parties’ failure to uphold commitments to preserve Iran’s economic benefits, Iran began steps to reduce its commitments over a 60-day period.

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According To Iran News, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for the Economic Diplomacy Affairs said Gholamreza Ansari said on Sunday that Iran and Venezuela will continue their cooperation on downstream and oil sectors.

He referred to the arrival of Iranian oil tankers to Venezuela saying, “the last tanker of the five Iranian flotilla dispatched to Venezuela will arrive in Venezuelan waters today, while the other four are planning to turn back.”

Expressing content they the tankers faced no difficulty arriving in Venezuela, Ansari said “the country is of good markets for Iranian oil sector and downstream products.”

“If they agree, we plan to continue our cooperation with them in this sector,” he added.

He also informed that Caracas has asked Iran’s help with repairment of its oil installments.

The fifth Iranian oil tanker, ‘Clavel’, has approached the Caribbean Sea and will enter Venezuelan waters in a few hours.

Iran has sent five tankers loaded with 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and alkylate to Venezuela to help jump-start the oil refineries in the Latin American state amid a fuel crisis.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a message termed the shipment of Iranian fuel to Venezuela as a sign of Tehran-Caracas solidarity.

Iranian fuel reaches Venezuelan stations as prices are set to rise.

As believed, US maximum pressure — harsh sanctions and other forms of economic pressure — have so far had little impact on their policies.

Tehran and Caracas have been able to trade to mutual benefit.

These states not only successfully circumvented US sanctions; they also scored public relations points in the process.

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“There has always been the political will to solve issues and there is no dead end… The issue is that the policy of maximum pressure is wrong and must be changed. We have not closed the door, however, the United States must come to the understanding that this policy is not right,” he said in a press conference.

He noted that current U.S. officials should be “wise” enough to learn from past experiences.

U.S. President Donald Trump quit the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced the harshest ever sanctions on Iran as part of the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

Many analysts and think tanks believe that the maximum pressure policy has failed to achieve concrete results.

‘Iran to respond if Europeans use snapback mechanism’

Larijani also said that Iran will respond if the Europeans use the snapback mechanism that returns UN sanctions against Iran.

“If the European states use the mechanism, Iran will also revise some of its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” he said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday that Paris is seriously considering triggering a mechanism within the Iran nuclear deal that could lead to UN sanctions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Thursday that Le Drian’s remarks were “irresponsible”.

Larijani says he has no intention to run for president 

Larijani also said that he has no intention to run for the presidential post in the 2021 elections.

He also said that he will not seek re-election in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Parliamentary elections will be held on Feb. 21, 2020 with the approval of the Guardian Council.

‘Coordination council of senior official is temporary’ 

Larijani also said the coordination council comprised of the heads of the three branches of government is “provisional” and refuted claims that it intends to approve legislation or replace the parliament.

He said the coordination council was formed in a special situation, a reference to the abrogation of the nuclear deal and return of sanctions by the U.S. which resulted in an economic shock, especially in the devaluation of national currency.

“For example, the foreign currency crisis had to be contained and mechanisms should have been considered,” Larijani stated. “But this issue (coordination council) is provisional and it never wants to replace Majlis and must never be so.”

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Germany does not support the US ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran and keeps making efforts to preserve Iran’s nuclear deal instead, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Rainer Breul, on Wednesday.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarid said Friday the United States’ new sanctions targeting the Iranian construction sector shows the failure of Washington’s maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic.

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