American officials should know that Iran will immediately return to its commitments as soon as they do so, and this is what the Supreme Leader has placed emphasis on, the president announced.

On the first anniversary of the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2019, Iran decided to reduce its commitments to the international deal, based on Articles 26 and 36 to reciprocate the US move.

As the president stressed, victory will be embraced soon if unity promotes.

Those who hatched a plot against Iran and the [Islamic] system have today admitted defeat, and this shows that “victory is near,” President Rouhani added.

Iran has called on the White House to return back to the international laws without hesitation and not to be ashamed of doing so, said the Iranian President on Wednesday. Rouhani made the remarks during a cabinet session on Wednesday, asserting that Islamic Republic will return to all its obligations immediately if the US returns back to its commitments.

“The Leader of the Islamic Revolution explicitly stated that if those who broke the deal return, we will also return to it”, Rouhani reiterated.

“Sanctions are the will of the Zionists and we should not allow the will of the Zionists to be implemented”, he stressed.

Referring to Biden’s tendency to return to the table of JCPOA, he expressed hope that the new US administration show in practice that it does not seek to continue economic terrorism against the Iranian nation and to violate international laws.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he emphasized the importance of unity against the economic war, saying, “Victory is not far away, it is near. The designers’ of maximum policy who sought to bring the Iranian nation to its knees, today explicitly admitted their own defeat.”

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In his written message to the congress, Rouhani thanked all scientists and students from Iran and other countries who attended the event to commemorate the 1750th anniversary of Gundi Shapour University, as the world’s oldest university.

Rouhani described scientific and cultural ties between nations as being ‘most lasting and most durable’, stating that the broader these ties are, the deeper the sympathy and friendship among the nations become.

Referring to the registration of Gundi Shapour as the world’s oldest university by UNESCO, the President said that it’s proof that Iranians since ancient times have been heralding science and friendship.

He also underlined that Iranians today, following their ancestors, placed two occasions in their national days: ‘The day of dialog and constructive interaction with the world’ and ‘The day of non-violence and non-extremism.’

“I believe the only durable and lasting way for proximity among nations is to return to lucid sources of science and culture, the same as our ancestors in Iran did by establishing the world’s oldest university,” Rouhani added.

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Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has only voiced a willingness to rejoin the JCPOA. His administration has, however, stopped short of any concrete effort that could mirror the expression of alleged interest amid Tehran’s definitive position that it would only reverse its reprisal if Washington lifted the sanctions.

Coveney said as an international agreement, the JCPOA was very important to global peace, noting that Dublin would do all in its power to preserve the deal. He said Dublin was prepared to play whatever role that could ameliorate the situation and enable fresh negotiation among the JCPOA’s partners.

Meanwhile, in the meeting President Rouhani criticized the Europeans’ inaction toward reviving the multilateral 2015 nuclear deal, saying negotiations based on “mutual respect” and free from “threat and pressure” is the best means of resolving the current standoff.

“The best way to resolve the differences with our European partners on various bilateral, regional, and international levels is negotiations based on mutual respect and avoidance of any sort of threat and pressure,” Rouhani said.

The president was apparently referring to the Europeans’ submission to the U.S. demand that Tehran takes the first step to revive the nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), even though it was the US that unilaterally abandoned the deal and restored the unlawful sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani said Iran is the only party to have paid a price for attempting to preserve the nuclear agreement it signed with the P5+1 group of states — the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — in Vienna in 2015.

The president, however, warned that the status quo could not last as the deal has to be observed by all of its signatories.

“The Islamic Republic has been committed to the JCPOA and its preservation. Iran has been the only party to have [ever] paid the price of preserving the JCPOA. But this status is unsustainable in its current form,” he noted.

Under his signature “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the landmark accord and restored the economic sanctions that the deal had lifted. The US also began threatening third countries with “secondary sanctions” if they did business with Iran in defiance of the bans.

Rouhani noted that the U.S.’s “maximum pressure” policy and its illegal sanctions had, as acknowledged by U.S. officials themselves, been defeated in the face of the Iranian nation.

“In order for the JCPOA to be preserved and revived, it is necessary for all of the deal’s members to fully implement Resolution 2231.”

The president said Iran was prepared to “immediately” reverse its nuclear counter-steps once the US lifted the sanctions and “abandoned its policy of threat and pressure” against the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani also said Iran was prepared to cooperate with international organizations towards the resolution of regional crises.

Later Coveney met his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Coveney who arrived at Tehran on Saturday held talks on issues of mutual interest with Zarif. Ireland is the facilitator of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed the JCPOA.

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The president on Thursday delivered a speech to the 14th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization, held via videoconference.

In his address to the summit, held to discuss “regional economic cooperation in the aftermath of COVID-19”, Rouhani hailed ECO as a successful model of regional convergence.

He also called for efforts to find new ways to broaden intra-organizational trade exchanges among the ECO members.

Calling for plans to carry out ECO goals and accelerate the implementation of its trade agreements, President Rouhani proposed the idea of activating and supporting ECO subsidiary organizations, such as the ECO bank, insurance, standards, and chamber of commerce.

Rouhani further emphasized the necessity of removing the obstacles to cooperation among the ECO states in the transportation industry.

ECO enjoys invaluable potential in terms of human and natural resources, energy reserves, complementary economies, interested private sectors, and incomparable regionally and globally transit and transport advantages, he underlined.

There have been major steps towards the enhancement of economic cooperation within ECO and precious achievements have been made, Rouhani said, adding that however, in certain areas such as trade, the achievements have not met expectations.

Despite the high trade potential and the necessary infrastructure in place, intra-regional trade remains as low as less than 10 percent– totally unacceptable. This has also been addressed in the ECO Vision 2025, he added.

Rouhani said that we are of the view that we need to concentrate on the operationalization of the ECO agreed on programs and decisions with a view to accelerating the pace towards realization of the goals and objectives of the Organization.

Implementation of ECO trade agreement, as well as working out ways and means to expand intra-regional trade, further activation of private sectors for the sake of trade boost, strengthening and activation of the existing and new ECO agencies such as ECO Trade and Development Bank, ECO Reinsurance Company are measures to be needed to this end, he noted.

ECO Regional Institute for Standardization (RISCAM), and ECO Chamber of Commerce, as well as removing the obstacles and challenges encountering transit and transport cooperation as the fundamental infrastructure for trade expansion are some other steps to be taken, he further noted.

The Islamic Republic of Iran remains ready to actively contribute to the operationalization of the ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA) and creating the necessary financial, banking, and customs arrangements while having on board all ECO Member States, he pointed out.

Given our geographical location, we are prepared to share our transport network as well as infrastructures and facilities along the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea with ECO Members, particularly the landlocked countries, bridging them with international waters and markets, he added.

The international community is now experiencing formidable challenges which have affected all facets of human life. The COVID-19 has deeply and destructively affected the economic and welfare conditions of the countries in the world, he stated.

No country can afford to tackle such challenges single-handedly. Rather, it requires collective will along with joint cooperation. Accordingly, we consider very timely and promising for ECO Region the theme of this Summit, namely “Regional Cooperation in the PostCOVID Era”, he added.

In the time of the pandemic, the international community has disappointedly failed to act against unilateral measures and unlawful sanctions dragged into the realm of the fight against the disease, targeting the countries’ capabilities in their struggle against this global plague, Rouhani said.

The great powers’ depriving other nations of fundamental rights, as well as their disrespect for international organizations, necessitate a response from the like-minded countries including through strengthening cooperation and creating a united front against these challenges, he underlined.

Meanwhile, Turkey urged for the trade deal between member countries of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to be put into action as soon as possible.

Addressing ECO’s virtual 14th Leaders Summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also called for the members to develop their ties with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and urged for the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan opened the summit in his capacity as the chair of the 13th summit, held in Islamabad in March 2017.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan chairs the 14th summit.

Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey are the founding members of ECO, established in 1985. Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan joined the organization later.

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In a cabinet meeting, President Rouhani said that the rights of the people are being violated by sanctions when a bullying power does not allow Iran to get back money from the export of goods.

He recalled guidelines of the Supreme Leader to focus on the domestic economy and the Resistance Economy to avert hardship imposed on people by the sanctions, saying that the sanctions violate basic human rights of the people, and life under sanctions and isolation is harmful.

The U.S. rhetoric has changed and they have admitted wrong decisions by the previous U.S. administration and even canceled a letter to the UN demanding snapback to the sanctions lifted by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the President said, adding that Washington, however, has taken no serious step to lift the unilateral sanctions and recognizing Iranian nation’s rights.

Rouhani underscored that if the seven states parties to the JCPOA have a resolve for compliance to the JCPOA, especially Iran and the U.S., it would be a matter of a few days for the U.S. to lift sanctions and for Iran to return to full compliance with the deal.

President Rouhani said that former U.S. President Donald Trump failed totally in his Iran policy without even a single win and that was a trap laid by Israel.

“Does the current U.S. administration admit that the measures by their predecessor were wrong? If yes, then they should both admit evidently and fulfill their commitments and even compensate the mistakes,” Rouhani added.

He underlined that this is exactly what Iranian officials say when talking to Europeans who insist on the revival of the JCPOA.

Describing the JCPOA as one of the most important political deals in Iran’s history, Rouhani said that the deal legitimized Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear energy that was previously a source of pressure on the country.

Referring to the countries that remained in the JCPOA as 4+1, the President emphasized that they have to admit that Iran stood up to the Economic War for three years and it was Iran that saved the deal. Therefore, he added, they have to abide by the law.

Meanwhile, he asked Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council to pass the law approving FATF bills, elaborating that the FATF-related discussions have nothing to do with sanctions.

The post President Warns Over Delay in Lifting Sanctions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

President Rouhani recalled guidelines of the Supreme Leader to focus on the domestic economy and the Resistance Economy to avert hardship imposed on people by the sanctions, saying that the sanctions violate basic human rights of the people and life under sanctions and isolation is harmful.

The US rhetoric has changed and they have admitted wrong decisions by the previous US administration and even canceled a letter to the UN demanding snapback to the sanctions lifted by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, the President said, adding that Washington, however, has taken no serious step to lift the unilateral sanctions and recognizing Iranian nation’s rights.

Rouhani underscored that if the seven states parties to the JCPOA have a resolve for compliance to the JCPOA, especially Iran and the US, it would be a matter of a few days for the US to lift sanctions and for Iran to return to full compliance with the deal.

President Rouhani said that former US President Donald Trump failed totally in his Iran policy without even a single win and that was a trap laid by Israel.

‘Does the current US administration admit that the measures by their predecessor were wrong? If yes, then they should both admit evidently and fulfill their commitments and even compensate the mistakes,’ Rouhani added.

He underlined that this is exactly what Iranian officials say when talking to Europeans who insist on the revival of the JCPOA.

Describing the JCPOA as one of the most important political deals in Iran’s history, Rouhani said that the deal legitimized Iran’s peaceful use of nuclear energy that was previously a source of pressure on the country.

Referring to the countries that remained in the JCPOA as 4+1, the President emphasized that they have to admit that Iran stood up to the Economic War for three years and it was Iran that saved the deal. Therefore, he added, they have to abide by the law.

Meanwhile, he asked Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council to pass the law approving FATF bills, elaborating that the FATF-related discussions have nothing to do with sanctions.

The post Rouhani says delay is not good for lifting sanctions appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In a public vote on Monday, an overwhelming majority of lawmakers voted to send a report by the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission on the agreement reached with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the judiciary for review.

The report asserts that the deal struck on Sunday between the IAEA and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) constitutes a “clear violation” of a law passed by Parliament in December.

As per the law, the government of President Hassan Rouhani must stop the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol, which gives broad authority to IAEA inspectors, from Tuesday.

In a statement, the AEOI said the implementation of the Additional Protocol will be completely halted from Tuesday, in accordance with the law, and no access will be given to the UN’s nuclear watchdog beyond those laid out in a principal safeguards agreement aimed at ensuring nuclear non-proliferation.

However, detractors have said the agreement reached after IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visited Tehran violates the December law, in that Iran would unilaterally record the monitoring data the nuclear watchdog’s inspectors would normally be able to access under the Additional Protocol, but would not share the data.

The arrangement will remain in place for three months, at the end of which the data will be destroyed if all United States sanctions, imposed on Iran since 2018 after former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, are not lifted.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the talks “resulted in a very significant diplomatic achievement and a very significant technical achievement … within the framework of the parliament’s binding law”.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also said in a statement on Monday the IAEA agreement falls in compliance with the parliament’s law.

But angry parliamentarians held a different view.

Instead of their scheduled work on the annual budget bill that had been delayed for months amid a spat with the government, they held a meeting behind closed doors to review the IAEA deal and drafted a motion to involve the judiciary.

Several lawmakers delivered fiery speeches in condemnation of the deal in a public session held afterward.

Among them was the speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – a staunch political foe of the president who also unsuccessfully ran against him in the 2017 presidential election and is considered a potential candidate in the upcoming June elections.

Ghalibaf said the parliament will not be satisfied with anything less than what it perceives as the full implementation of the law is approved.

The parliament’s motion also directly called for Rouhani to be legally punished.

“The aforementioned law recognizes mister president as the person in charge of implementing it,” the motion said, calling on Rouhani and all others who the parliament believes violated the law to be handed over to the judiciary.

“The president on the way to the court!” Tehran representative Mojtaba Rezakhah wrote on Twitter shortly after the motion was passed.

Another lawmaker, Nazammudin Mousavi, said on Twitter that the parliament had sent a “decisive message” with the motion: that no one will be allowed to “circumvent the law”.

Iran’s defense doctrine is based on Islamic principles and moral values, he said, adding that some states resort to the military and defense power to dominate the world.

A comprehensive scientific, defense, and security document should be drafted in a way to advance Iran’s armed forces on the path to bolstering defense power.

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President Hassan Rouhani further praised the establishment of the National Coronavirus Headquarters.

“The decision made by the Supreme National Security Council to form the National Coronavirus Headquarters as well as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s move to communicate this decision was a major development,” said the president at a meeting of the headquarters on Saturday.

He also lauded untiring, wholehearted, and round-the-clock efforts by medical personnel to stem the spread of COVID-19.

“The state radio and TV, the Armed Forces, supervisory institutions, and the production sector have done a great job standing by the people over the past year in tandem with the National Coronavirus Headquarters and medical staff,” he said.

President Rouhani also reviewed the developments over the past year and since the outbreak of COVID-19.

“Over the past year, we came to the conclusion that lifestyles should be changed in order to tackle this disease because conditions for shopping, traveling, education, taking part in religious ceremonies, and going to recreational centers are not the same as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic,” he explained.

Rouhani also said: “We should change our lifestyle based on the new conditions, observe the health protocols, and reduce gatherings. If we see a symptom of the virus, we should quarantine ourselves so that we can get through the situation well.”

He also hailed the Iranian nation and healthcare system for the battle against the coronavirus, saying the Islamic Republic has been doing well in curbing the pandemic despite the U.S.’ illegal sanctions.

He said the Iranian nation suffered severe hardships since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic over the past year since all the world nations were free to use their own money for medical equipment, food, medicine, and vaccine except for the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was deprived of access to its own financial resources due to illegal and cruel U.S. sanctions.

“Iran was the only country that was fighting with sanctions parallel with the coronavirus… We faced many problems for procuring and paying for COVID-19 vaccines,” Rouhani said on Sunday during a session of the Coronavirus Prevention and Combat Headquarters.

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Rouhani made the remarks on Thursday, one day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that it can take on Iran’s bid to overturn illegal U.S. sanctions, which were re-imposed by former president Donald Trump in May 208 after he pulled Washington out of a nuclear deal with Tehran and world powers.

“I congratulate dear Iranian people as the Administration of Prudence and Hope achieved a great success at The Hague-based court. This is one of the several victories that the government has secured at the International Court of Justice against the United States, and this is very important,” he said during a video conference inaugurating five industrial projects in Zanjan Province.

“This power and grandeur are for the great nation of Iran against a superpower. In the political war, hundreds of thousands of experts and specialists accompany them (the Americans), but we are going to the war with a limited number of diplomats,” said Rouhani, hailing the diplomatic achievement as “beautiful and very brilliant.”

Iran brought the case in 2018 after Trump reinstated anti-Iran sanctions following his unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The United States tried to argue that Iran could not base claims at the ICJ on the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights between the two countries.

However, a majority of a panel of 16 judges found the treaty could be used as a basis for the ICJ’s jurisdiction.

“The court unanimously rejects the preliminary objections to its jurisdiction raised by the United States of America according to which the subject matter of the dispute does not relate to the interpretation or application of the Treaty of Amity,” presiding judge Abdulqawi Yusuf said on Wednesday.

The Iranian chief executive hailed the ruling as “a great legal success for the Islamic Republic.”

“At the International Court of Justice, we got a very successful verdict, despite the mobilization of thousands of great lawyers [on the side of the US]. The tribunal approved an interim order that the United States should immediately lift all sanctions on humanitarian goods, but America did not honor [the ruling,]” he added.

“It was a great success for our nation, but the Americans said that the court has no jurisdiction at all to consider Iran’s complaint,” Rouhani said.

The new U.S. administration said it is “disappointed” by the ruling, despite President Joe Biden’s criticism of his predecessor for reinstating the bans on the Islamic Republic after leaving the JCPOA.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “We have great respect for the International Court of Justice. At the same time, we are disappointed that the court did not accept our well-founded legal arguments, that the case Iran brought is outside the court’s jurisdiction, and the court should not hear it.”

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Members of parliament dismissed the general outlines of the budget bill by 148 votes to 99 on Tuesday during a stormy session. Twelve lawmakers abstained.

President Rouhani did not attend the parliament’s reading of the draft budget, sending his deputy in charge of economic planning Mohammad Baqer Nobakht instead.

Nobakht had his microphone unceremoniously muted during his defense of the bill, with Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf explaining that his 20-minute time was up.

The government presented the draft budget to parliament early last year, promising less reliance on oil revenues and higher growth, but it took not long before critics described it as too generous on government spending and short on development.

President Rouhani has dismissed such criticism and on Tuesday, he told a government meeting before the parliament session that the new budget had been drafted to manage the development path during an economic war.

“From the government standpoint, any change in the structure and main focuses of the 1400 budget bill could cause serious damage to the people’s livelihood and the path of the country’s development and management of the economy,” he said.

It focuses on the nation’s welfare, with infrastructure reforms, health, creating jobs, and boosting non-oil exports among its key goals, according to the government.

The proposed budget amounted to about 24.357 quadrillion rials (about $579.928 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials), with a 20-percent rise from the current year’s approved budget.

The bill has estimated the government’s budget at 9.298 quadrillion rials (about $221.38 billion), with an increase of 47 percent from the figure of the current year.

It has envisaged 3.175 quadrillion rials (about $75.595 billion) of incomes, while 6.37 quadrillion rials (about $151.666 billion) of expenses.

Revenues from exporting oil, gas, and gas condensate are estimated at 1.199 quadrillion rials (about $10.83 billion), up 323 percent from 454.9 trillion rials (about $10.83 billion), approved in the current year’s budget.

Supplying basic goods, treatment, and medical equipment; securing livelihood; supporting production and employment; promoting and supporting non-oil exports and knowledge-based companies are the focal points of the bill.

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