TEHRAN — Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, the spokesman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iranian Parliament, has said Sunday that Iranian economic diplomacy will not be limited to a few European countries.

Meshkini is probably referring to the three European countries of Britain, France and Germany, known as the European troika, which are raising demands that are not conducive to a success of the Vienna talks. 

“We should have a balanced relationship with the whole world and establish special relations with powerful countries,” he told Fars.

Meshkini referred to the Vienna talks intended to lift sanctions against Iran, saying Iran does not want anything “other than a complete lifting of sanctions, although we assume that the West” is not likely lift sanctions imposed against Iran. 

“But,” he added, “we must do our job and run the country without paying attention to the pressures, using internal capacities.”

The spokesman also said the next Iranian annual budget has been drawn up based on the lifting of economic sanctions.

The next Iranian fiscal years starts on March 21, 2022.

“The annual budget for the next Iranian calendar year has been fixed regardless of the outcome of the negotiations, and we should not tie the country's administration to the negotiations,” Abbaszadeh Meshkini insisted. 

“This issue has been told to the government by the Majlis (parliament), and we try to get the executive branch to look at the negotiations in a special way,” he added. 

The MP went on to say that Iran is diversifying its economic interactions with the outside world.

“In recent months, oil sales and export income and foreign trade have increased more than before. Our trade with Central Asian countries has increased by more than 200% over the last three months,” he explained.

Iran passes the stage of maximum pressure and turns sanctions into opportunity

Regarding the failure of maximum pressure campaign against Iran, Meshkini said the Islamic Republic has successfully defeated the maximum pressure campaign intended to strangulate its economy.

"Westerners admit that the Islamic Republic has passed the stage of maximum pressure, but we must turn this pressure into an opportunity," he said.

The spokesman added that Iran’s policy is to neutralize the sanctions.

“The sanctions should be lifted by those who imposed them, but we can, by managing the situation and neutralizing the sanctions, make the Western, arrogant and hostile sides regret it, and make them feel that if they impose sanctions on Iran, they have actually imposed sanctions on themselves,” he remarked. 

Referring to the need to interact with the countries of the world other than the illegitimate Zionist regime, Abbaszadeh Meshkini said that Iran is not afraid of negotiations.

The also reminded about the bitter experience of negotiations with the American side which resulted in the conclusion of the JCPOA, the official name for the 2015 nuclear deal. 

“The Americans were negotiated in the previous government and at the highest level, i.e. the foreign ministers of the two countries. There were even agreements and the two sides signed commitments, but they did breach the agreements,” he lamented. 

Media campaign against negotiations in Vienna 

Referring to the media campaign against Iran during the Vienna talks, Meshkini said, “The P4+1 group should know that the Islamic Republic has never started a war, but has always vigorously defended the national interests and the rights of its people.”

After more than a week-long break, negotiators from Iran and other remaining parties to the JCPOA – Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany – started talks in Vienna on Monday. The U.S. is participating in the talks indirectly.  

The spokesman added that Iran's policy in the negotiations is quite clear, but they are working at the negotiating table behind closed doors on Iran's proposals.

He added, “This is while in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, we worked on their proposals and played in their field. On the contrary, now they are playing in the field drawn up by the Islamic Republic. In the negotiations conducted in 2015, we were in the position of the accused and they tried us. But in recent negotiations, they have been in a position to be held accountable, and we are claiming our rights.”

He concluded by saying that the Westerners breached their nuclear commitments without being held accountable and in order to divert public opinion from why they did not fulfill their commitments, they raise questions in cyberspace.

“The Iranian people must be vigilant and improve their media literacy and do not get caught up in the media games of the enemies,” he reiterated.