TEHRAN- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has stressed that it is extremely absurd for U.S. officials to say that they are willing to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal to lift sanctions on Iran while simultaneously moving to impose additional sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with a group of top media moguls on Thursday morning at the beginning of the fourth day of his trip to New York, to answer their questions and discuss the opinions and stances of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Iranian president also reiterated Tehran’s position by saying that his country sees no point in a deal that did not close investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on claims of undeclared nuclear sites, saying such claims are being fabricated by Israel.

“The safeguards claims against Iran based on the claims of the Zionist regime, which is based on the experience of their sabotage and conspiratorial actions against Iran's nuclear facilities, are fundamentally invalid,” the president insisted.

Iran says it has already provided answers to such questions by the IAEA.
 
“Re-introduction of similar claims that have already been investigated and declared baseless by the IAEA is considered a mere political excuse to delay the revival of the agreement.”

Negotiations started in April 2021 to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the JCPOA, after President Joe Biden announced his administration’s desire to rejoin the deal. 

“We have experienced direct negotiation with America and we have found that there is no benefit from it. If the Americans are telling the truth and are honest, they should fulfill their obligations.”

About Iran's demands regarding the nuclear issue, the president responded, “America withdrew from the agreement and the Europeans refused to fulfill their obligations towards it, while the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to (repeated) official reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency as a monitoring body, was fully fulfilling its obligations.”

Raisi added, "We once experienced the United States' withdrawal from the agreement, and as a result we announced that they should provide reliable and reassuring guarantees to prevent this experience from repeating." 

The president said, "Our nuclear activities have been under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency for years, and there is no mention of violations of regulations in the Agency's reports," underscoring that Iran likewise wants the alleged safeguards concerns to be resolved once and for all.

Raisi described the IAEA’s approach toward Iran's nuclear activities as political and non-technical that are influenced by Western and Zionist pressure.

“The safeguards claims against Iran are based on the claims of the Zionist regime, which based on the experience of their sabotage and conspiratorial actions against Iran's nuclear facilities, are fundamentally invalid, and re-introduction of similar claims that have already been investigated and declared baseless by the IAEA is considered a mere political excuse to delay the revival of the agreement.”

The president went on to say, “If the safeguards case related to the past are not resolved once and for all, what guarantee is there that shortly after the agreement, Western countries will not organize actions against Iran based on these claims?”

“Every individual and group need certainty and predictability for their economic activity, but if these claims remain open, businesspersons and economic enterprises face uncertainty for their activities with Iran,” the president asserted. 

“Therefore, achieving a logical and fair agreement depends on providing reliable and reassuring guarantees, closing the case of alleged safeguards issues and permanently lifting the sanctions,” the president emphasized.
 
When asked why he would not engage in direct negotiations with the United States, the president responded, “We have experienced direct negotiation with America and we have found that there is no benefit from it. If the Americans are telling the truth and are honest, they should fulfill their obligations.”

Asked how the current American government can guarantee Iran’s rights on behalf of the future governments, Raisi responded, “Are the obligations of the countries in bilateral, regional and international stages the responsibility of the head of the government or the that government is the legal representative for a nation and a political system? If it is done as you say, the issue of interactions and agreements between countries or the interaction of countries in the framework of treaties and international organizations will no longer have any validity.”

The president made it clear that Iran’s government's approach to bilateral and global relations is based on interaction with all friendly nations with a focus on neighbors and regional countries.

Asked for a mediation by Iran to end the Ukraine war, he said, “We are against all forms of violence and conflict in light of the tragic experience of the 8-year war we experienced, and we will use all of our influence and contacts to stop this fight.”

‘The 8-year war’ refers to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran in September 1980 that lasted until the summer of 1988.

In response to a question about the Islamic Republic’s position on the Zionist regime and the Palestinian issue, the president stated, “The Palestinian people of different religions lived in their ancestral land for thousands of years, but their homes and houses have been occupied for 70 years and they are displaced in their own land or like Gaza where their place of residence has turned into a massive prison. 

“The solution to this problem is not agreements like Camp David, Sharm el-Sheikh or Oslo, because these agreements could not solve the problem of the ancestral inhabitants of this land and provide their rights,” Raisi pointed out.

Raisi pointed to an initiative by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a solution to the decades-long conflict in the occupied territories. 

Ayatollah Khamenei has suggested a referendum with the participation of original inhabitants of Palestine, including Jews, Christians and Muslims, to determine the fate of their country.

Raisi said the initiative by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has been registered as a document in the UN Security Council and is completely compatible with Western countries' claims of support for democracy.

“Holding a free election with the participation of all Palestinians, regardless of whether they are Jews, Christians or Muslims, will lead to the establishment of a government that can solve the problems of the Palestinians and guarantee their rights,” the president insisted. 

The president added, “Relying on the opinion and will of the people of each country can also solve the problem of Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan. Therefore, the problem of these countries should be resolved through dialogue and understanding between the people of these countries, and foreign interference in their affairs should be seriously avoided because their people can decide for their own future.”

Raisi responded to another question about the circumstances surrounding the death of a young woman in Iran, saying, “The cause of this incident is being investigated by legal and specialized authorities, and I prefer that the cause of the case be investigated through competent authorities.”

“Every day in various countries, including the United States and European countries, we see that men and women lose their lives by the police, but there is no sensitivity for finding the cause and deal with such acts of violence,” the president said, lambasting the West's deeply double standards on the issue of human rights.