Iran Press/ Europe: The full text of Abbas Bagherpour's interview with Diplomacy and Commerce Magazine is as follows:
Your Excellency, what kind of relations does the Islamic Republic of Iran currently have with the Republic of Austria, and do you see the possibility of further improving these relations?
Iran and Austria enjoy 164 years of diplomatic relations commenced when the first friendship treaty was signed, which resulted in the opening of the Austrian Embassy in Tehran in 1872 and later the Iranian Embassy in Vienna. But the ties between Iran and Austria go back further and to at least five centuries earlier as it is evident in the formal correspondence between the Safavid Dynasty and the Habsburg Monarchy as well as the exchange of diplomatic delegates in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century, our bilateral relations were expanded particularly in cultural, social, and scientific dimensions. Since then, our nations have developed a solid and steady relationship.
Iran is Austria’s second-biggest trade partner outside Europe
Iran is a country with abundant natural resources, enriched and historic culture and civilization, amazing tourist attractions, and an educated population. For many years, Iran was Austria’s second-biggest trade partner outside Europe and Austria was among the first five trade partners of Iran.
Our existing bilateral relations are multidimensional. Considering the great potential of the two countries in many different terms, there is no impediment on the way of expansion of bilateral relations.
One great advantage I am enjoying is the high qualified and incredibly talented Iranians that are living in Austria. It is expected that around forty thousand Iranian nationals are living in Austria including more than 2000 medical doctors, many engineers, university professors, researchers, businessmen, etc. We are truly proud of them. As such, their positive role in Austrian Society has been frequently acknowledged by high-level officials in Austria.
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Iran has gained remarkable progress in the new fields of sciences
In the field of economy, there are ample opportunities for investment in Iran in the area of energy, road, and railway, agriculture, banking and insurance, tourism, research, and technology. Iran has also gained remarkable progress in the new fields of sciences including biotechnology, nanotechnology, biomedicine, aerospace, etc. we are also privileged with an advanced community of energetic and brilliant community of start-ups. Moreover, Iran and Austria have jointly established numerous bilateral channels and structures to strengthen these collaborations.
The current international situation has also created opportunities to boost our economic cooperation even more. Just as a case in point and because of having the world's second-largest gas reserves, Iran is an unneglectable fix point in the complex equation of global energy supply. We are thus ready to strengthen our cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis.
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New round of Vienna talks started when US found out withdrawing from JCPOA was a strategic mistake
The nuclear negotiations in Vienna have been on shaky ground since March of this year. After the recent events, the prospects for the realization of new deals are even more questionable. Can you tell us what led to this delicate situation?
These rounds of talks were started when the US administration realized that their former policy of withdrawing from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 has been a strategic mistake and failed policy, thus expressing their intention to get back to the JCPOA. As Trump’s pressure campaign failed to achieve its stated goals, Mr. Biden was prompted to publicly oppose it and vow to change it. It is unfortunate, however, that Trump’s shameful legacy i.e., the inhumane sanctions against ordinary people of my country are still being continued by the latter.
The bitter fact is that, while we have been completely deprived of our benefits under the JCPOA for more than four years; some states including the Europeans were not abiding by their commitments, and more regrettably, they have been closing their eyes on the unlawful and inhumane sanctions of the United States, which have been amounted to economic terrorism against Iranian people.
Iran did its share of goodwill and sacrifice while it remained fully compliant with the JCPOA for more than one year after the US withdrew from the deal in clear violation of UN Security Council resolution 2231. The existing opportunity to even discuss going back to the deal exists because Iran acted responsibly and prudently. In the course of the Vienna talks, we exercised maximum flexibility and even introduced innovative solutions to the remaining issues with the hope to break the impasse.
During our intensive consultations with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borrell, in Tehran last week, we agreed to hold indirect talks with the US through the EU in order to overcome the last hurdles in the talks. As in the past, we will be in touch with the EU Coordinator for the next stage of the talks.
Iran will return to JCPOA if sanctions are lifted
Thus, as soon as other parties fulfill all of their obligations in a complete, effective, and verifiable manner, Iran will immediately reverse all of its steps. However, the sufferings of our people as a result of other parties failing to perform their commitments are nearly completely irreversible. Our patients, particularly those with rare diseases, have been suffering from inhumane sanctions which include even medicine and medical equipment. How can the deaths and sufferings of these innocent patients be reversed? This injustice cannot be erased from the Iranian people’s memory.
Against this backdrop, Iran remains ready to go back to full compliance with its commitments whenever all parties implement their commitments in full. Iran has made its political decision. The main obstacle now is the lack of a political decision by the United States, a fact that has been recognized by many others too. The ball is in US court and Washington should be concerned about missing the existing opportunity.
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22% of the IAEA’s inspections worldwide have been conducted in Iran
Out of 35 countries in the body, the Board of Governors passed a resolution with 30 votes in favor, three abstentions (India, Pakistan, and Libya) and two against (Russia and China), what is Tehran's official position on this resolution?
According to the Safeguards Implementation report 2021, 22% of the Agency’s inspections worldwide have been conducted in Iran; whereas Iran possesses only %3 of all nuclear facilities covered by the Agency throughout the world. Iran’s full cooperation with the IAEA has enabled the Agency to continue to maintain its knowledge with the most robust and intrusive nuclear verification, monitoring, and transparency measures ever conducted in a country.
Despite this unprecedented and proactive cooperation with the IAEA, the Agency's response was neither appropriate nor productive. Iran was surprised by the Agency's latest report since we have responded to all of the Agency's questions in a thorough and cooperative manner. The whole issue is based on baseless allegations and misinformation provided with bad faith by the most notorious regimes in the region, who are not a party to the NPT and have done all in their power to kill the JCPOA.
Notwithstanding Iran’s constructive cooperation with the Agency, the US and the E3 pushed for the adoption of a resolution at the recent IAEA Board of Governors’ meeting.
IAEA's resolution is politically driven
We believe that the IAEA's resolution is politically driven and that it will have negative effects on the ongoing talks, the consequences of which will be the responsibility of the resolution's authors. The adoption of the resolution serves as evidence to prove that the pressure and political aspirations of certain states have overcome the technical aspect of the work of the IAEA. This resolution is and should be a wake-up call for the credibility and integrity of the Agency, the safeguard system, and the non-proliferation regime.
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Iran's oil exports will not face serious drops
Since the beginning of the war conflict between Russia and Ukraine, there has been an economic crisis that can be felt worldwide. Regardless of the global economic situation, the Iranian Petroleum Ministry has said that Iran now exports more than a million barrels of crude oil and gas liquids per day and that it will not lose customers even if China buys more oil from Russia. What do you think, regardless of crude oil export growth, will the global economic crisis cause inflation in Iran?
As our Petroleum Ministry statement highlighted, while the country’s oil exports may be affected by market changes, they will not face serious drops; “only the geography of the market may change”.
On the main causes of the turmoil in the world energy market and the risk to energy security, one should not forget the US inhumane sanctions against Iran as one of the holders of the world's largest oil and gas reserves. With a view to neutralizing these illegal sanctions, we made efforts so that our oil sales have remained at high levels despite changes brought on. Overall, Iran has sold 40 percent more crude oil derivatives, natural gas, and gas condensate in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year compared with the corresponding period last year. Receiving the yields from selling crude and other products is considered as Trump's so-called “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions is still being pursued by the Biden administration.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasized that in order to ensure supply security for the benefit of consumers, politicizing the energy sector and imposing sanctions on producers must be avoided. Breaking energy security and intensifying market fluctuations is a lose-lose game for all players in this field. The growing return of Iranian oil can significantly respond to the needs of customers and bring stability and balance to the international energy markets. We are ready to play our role at this critical juncture.
When it comes to inflation and other economic factors, as we are witnessing, many countries including Europeans were negatively affected by the Ukraine crisis, experiencing severe situations in terms of energy, inflation, and provision of basic goods and commodities. Iran is not an exception, though the rate of inflation in our country because of the Ukraine crisis is lower in comparison with many other countries.
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