TEHRAN — Iran believes that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) could still be revived provided that the Americans show political will. 

The most recent developments regarding the JCPOA revival talks and other issues of importance in Iran’s foreign policy were raised in the weekly presser of Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Monday.

Kanaani faced several questions regarding the negotiations to revive the JCPOA. He responded by saying that the exchange of messages is going on between the negotiating partners, and the annual United Nations General Assembly provided a good opportunity to conduct rounds of negotiations in regard to the JCPOA, the official name for the 2015 nuclear deal.

“Bilateral and multilateral talks were held there, and messages were exchanged between Iran and the United States through intermediaries and high-ranking officials of some countries. We continue to emphasize that we are determined to achieve a good, strong and stable (nuclear) agreement and we adhere to the dialogue process,” he stated.

According to the spokesman, Iran tried hard to make its response to the EU-proposed text “a clear answer” that would help the final draft and the formation of an agreement.

“In that response, Iran tried to clear up the ambiguities in the EU-proposed draft, so that if an agreement is reached, we will see a stable agreement. We also sought to prevent interpretations that could undermine the agreement. In this regard, we adhere to the process of diplomacy and negotiation,” the spokesman reiterated. 

Iran has been mediatory role by Oman and Qatar to bring the nuclear talks to fruition.

“We welcome the goodwill of neighboring countries, and we are still present in the process of negotiations and interaction and exchange of messages,” the diplomat stated.

There is still a possibility and opportunity to agree and resume the implementation of the JCPOA, Kanaani said, adding that resurrecting the JCPOA is possible provided that the other side clearly shows its “political will”. 

European countries must ensure safety of Iran’s diplomatic missions

Elsewhere in the press briefing, the spokesman responded to a question about anti-revolutionaries defacing Iran’s diplomatic missions in some European countries in pretention of support for anti-government protests in certain cities in Iran that followed the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16. 

“As a result of the recent developments in Iran, in a number of European countries, some of our missions have been attacked by anti-revolutionaries. In some countries the aggressors succeeded due to the lack of adequate protection and lack of initial attention from the security forces,” he lamented.

Based on the Vienna Convention, Kanaani said, the host countries are obliged to provide all the necessary facilities and measures for the safe operation of diplomatic missions. He added that this is one of the inherent duties of the host countries, and in the event that a political mission might be threatened or damaged, the host should take preventive measures. 

“A number of our missions were attacked, and the necessary information was immediately given to the officials of those countries, and in Tehran, the Foreign Ministry took immediate actions through the embassies of those countries and reminded them of their responsibilities. After the first days, we saw the strengthening of protection and security measures by the host countries,” the spokesman said. 

The spokesman then elaborated that some people in these countries resorted to the most violent methods as a political protest. 

“In addition to attacking diplomatic missions, they even tried to affect the normal procedure of some of our missions abroad by using unethical methods and threatening diplomats and creating an atmosphere of insecurity. Our diplomats were present in the missions as usual and pursued their political duties and provided consular services seriously. In some areas, attackers and those who claim to support human rights and political approach to express their views even disrespected the clients of consular sections and created an atmosphere of fear for Iranian citizens,” he expanded, adding that there are relatively good conditions now. 

“Embassies in Europe have restarted their activities,” the spokesman added. 

Iran respects Iraq’s territorial integrity

Kanaani also responded to a question about the developments in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, saying, “The principled policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in relation to the Republic of Iraq is to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and territorial unity of this country and to contribute to stability and security in this country. This is not merely a slogan and it is an official, declared and proven policy of Iran. Iran proved this in practice. When this country was attacked by armed terrorists, including the Daesh and Takfiri groups, Iran was the first country to help the government and people of Iraq in the shortest time. Iran hastened to be able to defend the security of both the central government of Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Iran stood by the Iraqi brothers, the armed forces and the people of Iraq with all its might.”

However, he elaborated that regarding the incident in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Iran warned the Iraqi central government, as well as the government of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region regarding the necessity of not turning the neighboring lands into a center of threats.

“Unfortunately, in some parts of the Kurdistan region, armed, separatist and terrorist groups have established bases and centers for many years and have threatened and undermined Iran's national security at various times and attacked our armed forces. We sacrificed many martyrs in the northwest region as a result of the armed attack of terrorist and separatist groups, and we also lost many citizens in these regions and neighboring provinces. Based on the inherent duty, the right to neighbor and resort to legal methods in different frameworks of political dialogues with the authorities of the central government of Iraq and the local authorities of the Kurdistan region, we gave the necessary warning and reminded the necessity of cleaning these areas from terrorist groups. Several official notes have been given to the central government of Iraq in this regard, and both security violations and the responsibility of the Iraqi government to ensure security were reported in these notes,” he said. 

According to Kanaani, these issues have always been mentioned in the political, security and joint border committee negotiations between the two countries. 

“What is related to Iran has been observed in the framework of good neighborliness policy, and what is related to legal frameworks has been followed. In the political field, it has always been mentioned during our talks with the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s authorities that we need assurances that Iranian lands will not be attacked from Iraqi soil and the security of our citizens and border guards will not be attacked. All political, security and legal frameworks have been passed and Iran has acted based on international law and the United Nations Charter to maintain its security and defense. In recent days, good talks have been held with Iraqi and regional authorities and promises have been made,” the spokesman added. 

“We expect the Iraqi government to establish security and we hope to witness good events in this regard,” Kanaani remarked. 

Iran urges respect for UN Charter as Russia annexes new regions in Ukraine

The Foreign Ministry spokesman also called for respect to the territorial integrity of countries and the UN Charter after the Russian annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

“As always and based upon its principled stances, the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the need for the full observance of the principle of territorial integrity of states as a fundamental rule of the international law and respect for the principles and goals of the United Nations Charter.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that any provocative move that may obstruct the path to peace, stability and calm must be avoided,” Kanaani said when asked about Russia’s decision to annex the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine following referendums in the four regions. 

He also regretted that the flames of war in Ukraine, which have been ignited by the provocative moves by NATO and spearheaded by the U.S., are going unabated.

“The efforts made to de-escalate the tensions and fighting have not produced any result because of the measures from certain involved parties that pursue their interests in the continuation of crisis and tensions,” he said, according to Tasnim. 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran supports any effort for peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict and has always expressed its readiness to help and contribute to this process,” the spokesman added.

On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions at a signing ceremony in the Kremlin.

At the ceremony, Putin said Russia has “four new regions”, calling the residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions “our citizens forever”.

The signing ceremony came three days after the completion of referendums in the four regions, which are largely or partly controlled by Russian or Russian-backed forces.

Shortly after the ceremony, Russia vetoed a UN resolution that would have declared its referendums as having “no validity” and urged all countries not to recognize any “purported annexation” of the territory by Moscow.

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“We gave the necessary warning and reminded the necessity of cleaning these areas (northern Iraq) from terrorist groups.

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=======Foreign Ministry spokesman says the JCPOA can be saved if U.S. shows ‘political will’