TEHRAN— Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday heavily criticized the EU and Western countries for double standards regarding Iran.

During his weekly presser, the spokesman responded to a question about Western countries' interventions in Iran's internal situation and the statement of the 12 Western foreign ministers, saying, “Unfortunately, during the recent developments in Iran, we witnessed interventionist statements and unconstructive and irresponsible actions. In reality, these interventionist, ill-considered and provocative actions turned the peaceful demands of some sections of the Iranian society into riots and created inappropriate conditions.”

The spokesman said that these riots changed the context for hearing the voices of people who had peaceful views and provided the ground for violent people.

The basis of these interventions was the protection of women's rights and the rights of minorities, Kanaani remarked.

Foreign Ministry spokesman advises the EU not to tie its interests to America and not to be emotional about Iran's issues.“Minorities are the original components of the great Iranian society. These governments talk about women's rights and defending these rights. Such statements are intrusive and combined with lying and hypocrisy,” the spokesman said.

The diplomat noted that those who talk about women's rights did not pay attention to the unilateral sanctions of the American government and Europe’s acquiesce the to the sanctions targeting the Iranian people including women, girls and children without discrimination.

Kanaani added that their claims are “hypocritical” and their statements about Iranian women and ethnic groups are “unrealistic”.

The realties on ground are different, the ministry official remarked.
 
“Women's rights in Iran are not only derived from laws but also from Iranian history and culture. In Iranian and Islamic culture, women have a distinct and prominent position. This position does not necessarily arise from laws, but rather from the culture and history of Iran,” the spokesman opined.

Kanaani continued that what the Western countries have done in recent days not only was not in line with the legal rights of women, but even deprived the Iranian citizens of their right to life, the result of which was seen in the Shah-e-Cheragh terrorist incident in which 15 citizens, including a woman and three children, lost their lives.

“The interventionist positions of these countries were provocative and irresponsible and these actions played a role in creating an atmosphere of chaos,” the diplomat noted.

Sanctioning IRGC will be illegal

Elsewhere in the presser, the diplomat discussed the statements of the German officials regarding imposing sanctions on the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), saying, “If such an action is taken, it will be a continuation of the unconstructive and irresponsible actions of these countries in relation to Iran and is due to the continuation of their wrong approach in relation to the government and people of Iran. The IRGC is the official military institution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and such action will be completely illegal.”

He then expressed hope that both the German government and other governments would pay attention to the results of their unconstructive actions and not sacrifice their own mutual interests for momentary political interests and emotional decisions.

U.S. media empire is at service of inverting facts

The spokesman also responded to the efforts of the United States to form an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council, saying, “Unfortunately, the media empire of the American government is still being used in the service of sanctioning and inverting the facts of Iran. By doing that, they are trying to provide a political environment for the formation of this meeting, and the (bitter) point is that a number of Iranian diaspora are invited to this meeting to speak against Iran. People who, despite their Iranian identity and citizenship, in the past years and in a situation when the people of Iran and their compatriots were under the most difficult conditions due to the illegal and unilateral sanctions of the United States, and even the supply of vaccines was not available during the coronavirus pandemic, did not speak up in any platform. Now they are going to be invited and speak against Iran from that platform.”

He then noted that UN Special Rapporteur Javid Rahman's anti-Iran approach is not ineffective in this regard.

Iran doesn’t arm Russia in war with Ukraine

The spokesman reiterated for what seemed like a hundredth time that Iran does not export weapons to any side, including Russia, to use them in the Ukraine war.

“Iran is against the war in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, etc. and believes in the necessity of using political solutions to resolve disputes,” he stressed.

Kanaani continued by saying that all Iran's diplomatic efforts since the beginning of this crisis until now has been focused on trying to end the war by using political mechanisms, contrary to the claimant countries that level accusations against Iran and export billions of dollars of military equipment to one side of the war.

South Korea is not in a position to lecture Iran

The spokesman then once again offered his condolences regarding the Halloween stampede in South Korea which killed over 150 people, including 5 Iranians.
“We have shown a humane response. We do not mix political issues with humanitarian issues. South Korea is a country with which we had a very good relationship over the past years, but unfortunately, as a result of being influenced by foreign pressure, especially the United States, has acted very irresponsibly in blocking assets from Iran's exports, and has taken an unconstructive and irresponsible position in relation to our internal developments,” the diplomat lamented.
Kanaani further noted that South Korea is not in a position to preach Iran on management.
“In this country, during a festival nearly 200 people lost their lives and dozens of people were injured with their mismanagement. This country cannot teach Iran a lesson in ethics and management in relation to the management of riots in which foreign governments are on one side. If they knew how to manage, they should have managed this festival. Unfortunately, five Iranians lost their lives in this incident. Our approach was humanitarian and we expressed our condolences and sympathies,” Kanaani said.

He added: I offer my condolences to the bereaved families of five Iranian citizens and wish them patience. From the first hours we heard the news, we fulfilled our consular duties and will follow up on the latest situation.”

Iran International is a quasi-media operating against Iranians

Regarding the performance of the Saudi-funded Iran International network, the spokesman said that the diplomatic apparatus has definitely expressed its opinion and view to the Saudi side through diplomatic channels.
“The performance of this quasi-media is similar to the performance of a war room. Iran International operates against the Iranian nation, and its activities are similar to the activities of a terrorist media. Iran has so far taken measures in various ways and is pursuing additional measures for the legal confrontation with this network and its results will be announced at the appropriate time,” the diplomat said.
 
According to Kanaani, the decision of the United States and Europe coupled with their recent actions regarding Iran were unconstructive and derived from their misunderstanding of Iran's internal developments and it is a continuation of their past wrong policies in relation to Iran.
“Making any issue an excuse to impose new sanctions against the government and people of Iran is repeating the wrong policies of the past,” he asserted.

“At some point, with a realistic understanding of the ineffectiveness of sanctions, they became interested in dialogue with Iran. Iran has not and will not leave the negotiation table and entered the negotiation process. Iran does not want to have a direct confrontation with the European Union and enter into a confrontational process with them. Iran's position is dialogue based on equality and focusing on common interests,” Kanaani noted.

He then advised the EU not to tie its interests to America and not to be emotional about Iran's issues.
“We advise them not to bet wrongly on Iran's internal developments, and to take the path of constructive interaction and cooperation. Certainly, Iran's response to respectful and constructive behavior will be reciprocal behavior, mutual respect and constructive interaction, and reciprocally, if they pull the trigger on sanctions, Iran will use the tools in its hand, as it did in return,” he cautioned.

Our message to neighbors is peace

On the recent remarks of Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on Iran, he also said, “Our message to our neighbors is peace and friendship and respect for the principles and relations of neighborliness combined with mutual respect.  
“This approach is not only declarative and political, but it is Iran's practical approach in relation to all its neighbors, and it expects the opposite parties in the same framework and based on Iran's goodwill,” Kanaani said.
“We expect the neighbors to adhere to the principles of neighborliness and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. Any approach other than this is unconstructive and against the interests of nations and governments and provides the ground for abuse,” the spokesman concluded.