Shamkhani Archives - Iran News Daily

Ali Shamkhani Dismisses Possibility of Talks beyond N. Deal

mahla — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 07:15:25 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani rejected the possibility for holding talks with the world powers about issues other than implementation of the nuclear deal.

“Regardless of whether Europe has the will or ability to persuade USA to lift all sanctions at once and Washington’s return to its commitments, there will be no possibility for Iran entering the talks in the new fields, more than JCPOA, under any circumstances,” Ali Shamkhani wrote on his twitter page on Tuesday.

He also used the #activeresistance in his tweet.

Shamkhani’s remarks followed comments by the US administration’s special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, who is based in a hotel near the venue of talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna between representatives of Iran and the remaining signatories to the JCPOA.

In an interview with the American National Public Radio, Malley was asked about a “follow-up” agreement in case the JCPOA gets back on track.

“What we would pursue is, first of all, a longer agreement. Even though this one lasts quite some time and some of its provisions last forever, of course, it would be better, as in any arms control agreement, to see whether we could get a follow-on deal that extends the timelines,” he replied.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission held its 18th round of talks in the Austrian city of Vienna, with representatives of Iran, Russia, China, France and Britain in attendance.

The US has been absent from the Commission and its discussions since 2018, when former American president Donald Trump took Washington out of the JCPOA and returned the sanctions that the nuclear accord had lifted.

Iran had announced on Sunday that the country’s officials will have no talks with their American counterparts in Vienna, saying that Tehran will only hold technical negotiations with the Group 4+1.

“In Vienna, we will not have any talks with the Americans, either directly or indirectly. We will negotiate with the Joint Commission and the G4 + 1 countries, and we will declare our demand and condition to return to the nuclear deal,” Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said, and added, “Our demand and condition is that the US should first fulfill all its nuclear deal undertakings and lift all sanctions, and then we will verify it and return (to our modified undertakings).”

He described the Tuesday talks with the G4+1 as technical, and said they will focus on the sanctions which should be lifted and the measures that should be adopted and their order and sequence, and the verifying measures which need to be taken.

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Iran to Boost Strategic Ties with East, Security Chief Says

reporter 1222 — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 06:30:59 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to boost strategic cooperation with East and detach its economy from oil revenues.

In a Twitter message on Sunday, Ali Shamkhani said, “The West’s policy toward our country has been based on preventing Iran’s strategic cooperation with the East and continued dependence of the national economy on oil.”

“A long time ago, Iran decided to take these two steps [to boost strategic cooperation with the East and reduce economic dependence on oil],” Press TV reported.

“Iran will overcome the existing challenges through active resistance and the strengthening of national solidarity,” Shamkhani noted.

Iran and China have recently agreed and are seeking to finalize a 25-year roadmap for strategic partnership, which was announced in a joint statement during a visit to Tehran by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2016.

The cooperation roadmap consists of 20 articles covering Tehran-Beijing ties in “Political, Executive, Human and Cultural, Judiciary, Security and Defense, and Regional and International Cooperation,” according to the statement released back then.

The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on July 25 that the country’s “longstanding policy” has been to maintain “balanced, friendly” relations with all Eurasian and Asian powers.

“Our potential long-term cooperation agreements w/ #China & #Russia, & our continued joint work w/ #India in Chabahar prove this,” Abbas Mousavi tweeted.

The White House, riled up by a potential long-term strategic partnership between Iran and China, has threatened to slap the same unilateral sanctions already imposed on Tehran against Beijing in case the deal is finalized.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in an interview with Fox News earlier this month, censured the potential Tehran-Beijing cooperation pact and said Washington would apply all of Iran’s sanctions also to the “Chinese Communist Party and their businesses and state-owned enterprises” if the deal was signed.

Speaking in a televised interview, Gholam-Reza Ansari, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, said it comes as no surprise to see Western countries expressing concern about Tehran’s strategic cooperation with Beijing, as they are terrified that Iran would be linked to China’s global potentials.

“Since Iran’s relations with China are serious, and that forms the basis of economic and strategic cooperation between the two states in the 25-year document, it is quite normal for Western countries to be worried about such relations,” he said.

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Comprehensive cooperation made to boost Tehran, Kabul ties

reporter 1222 — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 03:54:41 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said inking a comprehensive cooperation document between Tehran and Kabul, will give a momentum to bilateral relations between the two countries.

Speaking in a meeting with visiting Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan Mohammad Hanif Atmar, the Iranian official stressed the importance of finalizing and signing the document as soon as possible, according to a report by IRNA.

He noted that finalizing the strategic document between Tehran and Kabul would activate capacities for strengthening comprehensive cooperation between Tehran and Kabul.

Shamkhani further expressed satisfaction over signing a power-sharing deal in May between President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer of the Unity Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah which increased stability of Afghanistan political structure. He hoped the agreement will result in all-out development and growth of Afghanistan and put an end to the sufferings of the people of that country.

Referring to the long history of Iran’s support for Afghanistan and hosting over three million Afghan refugees in the past 4 decades, Shamkhani stressed the Iranian government and its people would continue their support for their “brothers and sisters in Afghanistan.”

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman’s office announced that a comprehensive cooperation deal will be signed between Iran and Afghanistan within three months.

According to the spokesman’s office report, the decision was made in a meeting in Tehran between Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Mohammad Hanif Atmar.

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Shamkhani Slam US Bid to Extend Arms Embargo

reporter 1222 — Tue, 19 May 2020 10:51:25 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani highlighted the futility of the US plan to extend an arms embargo against Tehran, saying such a desperate bid has triggered a decisive response from Russia and China and has confused Washington’s allies.

In a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday, Shamkhani deplored Washington’s desperate bid to extend the UN arms embargo against Iran.

“The US’ futile attempt at extending the arms embargo on Iran has drawn a decisive reaction from Russian and China and thrown Washington’s allies into confusion and doubt,” the top Iranian security official said.

“Inspired by the free and resisting nations, the world has not been tolerating bullies since years ago,” he added.

“There is nothing at the end of this road (taken by the US) but the dissolution of unilateralism,” Shamkhani underlined.

The warning came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was preparing a legal argument that the US would remain a participant in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA –already renounced by the US president- as part of an intricate strategy to pressure the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Tehran.

According to Pompeo’s plan, bound to be opposed by many of Washington’s European allies, the US would, in essence, claim it legally remains a “participant state” in the nuclear accord only for the purposes of invoking a “snapback” that would restore the UN sanctions on Iran that were in place before the nuclear deal.

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Shamkhani reacts to Hezbollah being on blacklist

reporter 1222 — Sat, 02 May 2020 05:41:35 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – In reaction to German ban on Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Rear Admiral Shamkhani said that suppliers of chemical weapons to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein have become defenders of human rights and call Lebanon’s Hezbollah as ‘terrorist’ for fear of its child-killer friend.

In his twitter account on Saturday, Shamkhani wrote, “a new surprise was also unveiled, Suppliers of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) to Saddam have become defenders of human rights and call Lebanon’s Resistance Movement ‘Hezbollah’ as a terrorist for fear of its child-killer friend.”

ISIL terrorist groups failed to reach Europe because it was trapped by the resistance movement, he said, adding, “it is good that mask of chief supporters and sponsors of terrorism has fallen out.”

Germany announced Thursday it has designated the Lebanese militant and political group Hezbollah a terror organization, banning all of its activities in the country and ordering raids on sites police say are linked to the group.

The police early Thursday raided properties belonging to associations linked to Hezbollah in five German cities including Berlin and Dortmund, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Hezbollah’s military arm has long been banned in Germany, though the group had been allowed to pursue political and social activities.

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Shamkhani Meets Officials in Baghdad

reporter 1222 — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 08:29:33 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani held talks with top officials in Baghdad, including Chief of Iraq’s Intelligence Service (IIS) Mustafa al-Kazemi, about issues of mutual interest.

In the meeting with Kazemi on Sunday, Shamkhani pointed to the US government’s recent move to assassinate Iranian and Iraqi commanders and said the “cowardly assassination” of the commanders of the Resistance Axis, Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muahdis, was the outcome of a strategic mistake by US President Donald Trump and “the evil team” in the White House.

“The countdown to the expulsion of America from the region began in the early morning of Friday, Jan. 3,” he added, referring to the day when a US drone attack in Baghdad killed the two commanders and a number of their companions.

Shamkhani further emphasized that the participation of millions of people in historic rallies against US military presence in Iraq proved that the Arab nation is the flag-bearer of ousting the US from West Asia.

Kazemi, for his part, expressed his gratitude to Iran for playing an effective role in combatting terrorism and boosting stability and security in the region.

Later on Sunday, Shamkhani met with some other Iraqi political officials, including Leader of National Wisdom Movement Seyed Ammar al-Hakim and Hadi al-Ameri, the head, and secretary-general of the Badr Organization.

Heading a high-ranking political and security delegation, Shamkhani arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for a two-day visit that included negotiations with senior Iraqi officials on regional developments and on Tehran-Baghdad relations.

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Strong Iran Needs Strong Parliament: Shamkhani

reporter 1222 — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 12:41:40 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani called for high turnout in the elections due to be held later this week and said Iran cannot remain powerful without a strong parliament.

“A strong Iran without a strong parliament is an unattainable dream,” Shamkhani said on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

“In a religious democracy, political participation is the only way to create a strong parliament,” he wrote, adding that any Iranian who wants a strong Iran should participate in the elections.

Election campaigns officially began in Iran at 00:00 Thursday and will last until the end of Wednesday.

The nationwide votes for the parliament and the midterm election of the Assembly of Experts will be held simultaneously on Friday, February 21.

The campaigns for the Assembly of Experts midterm election had already begun on February 6.

A total of 7,148 candidates, including dozens of Iranians from the religious minorities, are running for the parliament. There are 290 seats in the parliament up for grabs.

In capital Tehran, 1,453 candidates are contesting one of the 30 allocated seats on the legislature.

The lawmakers are elected for a 4-year term, with no limitation for the incumbent or former parliamentarians to run again.

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Ukrainian delegation meets Shamkhani shot plane

reporter 1222 — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 08:10:34 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – A high ranking Ukrainian delegation held talks with Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council in Tehran, discussing the issues surrounding the Ukrainian passenger plane which was mistakenly downed by the Iranian military near Tehran on January 8.

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), headed the Ukrainian delegation for discussing the situation around passenger plane downed a month ago with Iran’s Shamkhani.

The Ukrainian passenger plane, with 176 people aboard, was mistaken for an invading missile. The tragic incident happened a few hours after Iran fired missiles at a U.S. air base in Iraq in retaliation for the January 3 assassination of General Qassem Soleimani. Following the retaliation attack, the Iranian military had been put on high alert.

The victims of the crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Iranian-Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three British nationals.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Saturday and discussed the incident.

IRNA reported on Saturday that the top officials exchanged views on cooperation in investigating the incident.

On Friday, Zarif also met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne.

According to the website of Canada’s Foreign Ministry, the two agreed to remain in close touch over the issue of the plane crash.

“The two also discussed the download and analysis of PS752’s black boxes. Minister Champagne reiterated that the preferred option of the International Coordination and Response Group is for Iran to make use of the facilities offered by France, which possesses the technical capacity to perform this work. Minister Champagne also stressed the importance of a fair and equitable compensation settlement for the families of the victims, based on international standards,” the website reported.

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Shamkhani: Khorramshahr legacy got us through 40 years of economic war

reporter 1222 — Sat, 25 May 2019 06:31:56 +0000

In his message, published via the Mehr news agency on Friday, Ali Shamkhani said the third of Khordad (May 24) marks the day when the Iranian youth laid the foundation for sacrifice, resistance, and final victory with their own blood.

“On those very days, too, voices rose saying ‘today is time for negotiations. If not, then history will punish warmongers’,” Shamkhani wrote.

However, the security chief said, when Saddam invaded Kuwait in 1990 all realized that negotiation with the “mad villain” means permanent war and that history finally punished the real warmongers.

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Shamkhani: Polls remedy for crises in Palestine, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen

reporter 1222 — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 06:47:37 +0000

Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, says the Islamic Republic has gone into Syria in order to reinforce the Syrian defense infrastructure.

In an interview published on Monday, Shamkhani said so long as the legal government in Syria and Iraq ask for Iran’s help in fighting terrorism and establishing security in their countries, the Islamic Republic will stand by their side, Mehr reported.

He hailed the victories of Iran, Iraq, and Syria against terrorist groups, calling on other neighboring countries to join hands with the three countries to reach “promising achievements”.

Criticizing Washington’s hostile stance toward Iran, Shamkhani said, “They regard Iran’s presence in Syria and Iraq, which is aimed to fight Daesh (ISIL), prevent the killing of innocent people in the region and help the legal governments, as threatening policies.”

“While on the other hand, they keep silent about the killing of innocent Yemeni people as well as attacks on the market and bus carrying students by Saudi fighters,” the security chief regretted.

Shamkhani also emphasized that Iran’s solution to all regional challenges, including those of Palestine, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen, is “democracy” and “turning to the polls”.

“We raised this issue at the beginning of the Syrian crisis as well and said instead of exporting terrorism to Syria and issuing [your] imposed prescriptions for this country, provide the Syrian people with a podium to speak,” he remarked, pointing to Western countries’ policies toward the Syrian conflict.

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