TEHRAN - Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Friday that Iran will never tie its interests to the East or the West.

However, the chief diplomat said, Iran will cooperate with any country in the East or the West that meets Iranian interests.

“Neither the East nor the West is not just a slogan, but part of the Constitution and our belief. Therefore, we will not tie (the interests of) the country to China, the U.S., Russia or Europe, rather we will cooperate with any country in the East and the West that meets our interests based on mutual respect,” Amir Abdollahian told a meeting.

“Neither the East nor the West” is a principle that was adopted in the early days of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The minister went on to say that Iran will be actively present in every international event that will meet the national interests on the basis of the country’s “dignified diplomacy”.
However, he said, Iran has never abandoned the resistance front and will never do so.
He added Iran will try to present a “correct understanding” of the resistance front to officials in the region and beyond.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the foreign minister said Iran will never cross the red line in seeking to restore the nation’s absolute rights in the talks aimed at lifting the sanctions.

On Washington’s move to waive sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar, Amir Abdollahian said the money would be released within the framework of SWIFT, according to Press TV.

The foreign minister said on the basis of the agreement between Tehran and Washington, Iran can use the money to meet its needs.

On September 11, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration issued a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets from South Korea to Qatar with no concern about the sanctions.

The report released on September 12 said the Biden administration has also agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States. The five detainees were identified as Mehrdad Moein Ansari, Kambiz Attar Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour Kofrani, Amin Hassanzadeh, and Kaveh Lotfollah Afrasiabi.