Iran Press/ Iran News: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, said as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei stated, Iran has no problem returning to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)’s commitments, but the Americans need to know that neither sanctions nor sabotage acts will give them the means to negotiate and that these actions will only make things more difficult for them.
He noted that Americans need to understand that sanctions are not a tool to gain concessions from Iran. "Sanctions are a burden on US foreign policy, which to date has only had the opposite effect."
“Let's not forget that when Trump came to power, Iran had 300 kilos of enriched uranium, today it has over 4,000 kilos. When Trump came to power, Iran used only the IR1 centrifuges. Today, the IR6 chains work. Do not forget that before the terrorist act, 5000 IR1 systems were enriching uranium in Natanz. After the terrorist act, we will definitely use more advanced centrifuges, both IR1 and even more advanced ones,” noted Zarif in response to another question.
The way of dealing with Iran is no threat and sanctions.
He said: The United States should have understood after 42 years of testing the Iranian people that dealing with Iran is not a threat and sanctions. "The way to deal with Iran is not nuclear terrorism. If the United States wants to return to JCPOA, it must lift all sanctions and provide a list of all sanctions. According to JCPOA, the United States must provide a list of sanctions."
He stated: "We were not the ones who withdrew from JCPOA; we were not the ones who showed that paper in front of the world and signed the withdrawal of JCPOA. This was the US administration,” Zarif noted.
Referring to the Natanz nuclear incident, he added, "After this action, Iran's hand will become stronger both in the negotiations and in the nuclear issue in future."
Zarif also referred to the cooperation between Iran-Russia in the fight against the coronavirus, adding: "We hope that with the agreement reached between the two countries, the Sputnik vaccine production would start in Iran and it would be possible to buy more vaccines from Russia to meet our needs. It is a good ground for wider cooperation between two countries.”
Europe is not morally in the superior position
In response to a question about the recent approach and actions of the Europeans, Zarif said that the European Union in recent years, by failing to fulfill its obligations and by succumbing to US pressure, had shown that it was gradually losing its place in international relations and should know that it was not morally in a superior position.
Zarif added: "Today, instead of Europeans condemning the US act of terrorist threat against the food and medicine security of 82 million Iranians, and instead of acting against the enrichment site, they only give remarks about that. This only proves to the world that the European Union has no place in the world.”
He added: "The European Union is in fact following not only the policies of the United States, but also the most extremist groups inside the United States and the Zionist regime, and this is a great shame for Europe."
The Foreign Minister described the EU action in imposing sanctions on several Iranian officials as destructive, noting: "We will deal with this action. Yesterday, we announced some of the decisions of the Islamic Republic regarding that, and we are considering sanctions against Europeans who were involved in this illegal activity, and we will continue this process.”
FM Zarif said that Europeans should first and foremost think about their own dignity, adding: "Europe should know that it is not in a morally superior position. A Europe in which xenophobia and anti-Islamism have created terrible conditions for Muslims has neither a reputation nor a place to sanction Iranian officials."
Iran to compensate for terrorist stupidity
Addressing the correspondents at the joint conference with his Russian counterpart on Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Minister warned that Natanz terrorist incident enabled Iran to compensate for terrorist stupidity.
Zarif also responded to a question that some Western media outlets claimed that the sabotage incident at the Natanz site had delayed the enrichment process for nine months, saying: "What was done in Natanz makes it possible for Iran to legally do anything for nuclear progress in Natanz to compensate for this terrorist stupidity."
Investigations on the Natanz incident ongoing
"Soon, Natanz will move forward with more advanced centrifuges," he stated
"If Israel is responsible, it will face the reaction," Zarif said, noting that investigations into the perpetrators of the Natanz incident were ongoing.
"If the Israelis think they can prevent the lifting of sanctions against the Iranian people, they are wrong," Zarif said.
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