ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Tehran will not renegotiate the nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
“Some people tell us, why don’t you go to the negotiating table with the United States? I tell them we did negotiate with the United States. For a foreign government, it doesn’t matter what administration you’re negotiating with. You’re negotiating with a country. We negotiated a very good deal,” Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said at the Mediterranean Dialogues forum in Rome.
His comments come the same day the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed Iran continues to abide by the deal.
Zarif said that even if they were to enter any kind of talks with the administration of Donald Trump, “what is the guarantee that that agreement will last after the flight? You remember Canada? How are we to be confident that the signature will stay on the paper?”
He was referring to Trump’s decision to remove his signature from a G7 statement in June after he left the conference in Canada.
“We spent two and a half years. This is not a two-page document. This is not a photo opportunity. This is a 150-page document, worked word-by-word by a lot of people – nuclear scientists, lawyers, finance people sanctions people, on all sides. Now why should we resume another talk just because somebody doesn’t like it? Just because somebody hates his predecessor? That’s not the reason you engage in diplomacy. Diplomacy is a serious game and we are ready for a serious game,” said Zarif.
The nuclear deal continues to survive because Europe has remained committed to it, he said. He commended European statements in support of the landmark agreement, but urged the governments to take more practical steps, pointing out that the deal is good for Europe’s security.
Regarding the bite of sanctions, Zarif said that Iran will survive, as it has for millennia. But he said they will refuse to succumb to bullying.
“What have we done in our region that we need to change?” he asked, responding to statements that Iran is a destabilizing presence in the Middle East.
He pointed out that Iran did not back actors and groups that have created turmoil in the region – naming the Taliban, ISIS, Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda, and the 9/11 attackers – and asked why Iran should be blamed for other people’s mistakes.
The Middle East’s problems instead come from two sources – internal and external, he explained.
“The external problem is wrong choices. The internal problem is believing that you can rely on the outside for your prosperity, for your security, and for everything else.”
“You start with the wrong choice and you end up with the wrong result.”
“Some people tell us, why don’t you go to the negotiating table with the United States? I tell them we did negotiate with the United States. For a foreign government, it doesn’t matter what administration you’re negotiating with. You’re negotiating with a country. We negotiated a very good deal,” Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said at the Mediterranean Dialogues forum in Rome.
His comments come the same day the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed Iran continues to abide by the deal.
Zarif said that even if they were to enter any kind of talks with the administration of Donald Trump, “what is the guarantee that that agreement will last after the flight? You remember Canada? How are we to be confident that the signature will stay on the paper?”
He was referring to Trump’s decision to remove his signature from a G7 statement in June after he left the conference in Canada.
“We spent two and a half years. This is not a two-page document. This is not a photo opportunity. This is a 150-page document, worked word-by-word by a lot of people – nuclear scientists, lawyers, finance people sanctions people, on all sides. Now why should we resume another talk just because somebody doesn’t like it? Just because somebody hates his predecessor? That’s not the reason you engage in diplomacy. Diplomacy is a serious game and we are ready for a serious game,” said Zarif.
The nuclear deal continues to survive because Europe has remained committed to it, he said. He commended European statements in support of the landmark agreement, but urged the governments to take more practical steps, pointing out that the deal is good for Europe’s security.
Regarding the bite of sanctions, Zarif said that Iran will survive, as it has for millennia. But he said they will refuse to succumb to bullying.
“What have we done in our region that we need to change?” he asked, responding to statements that Iran is a destabilizing presence in the Middle East.
He pointed out that Iran did not back actors and groups that have created turmoil in the region – naming the Taliban, ISIS, Saddam Hussein, al-Qaeda, and the 9/11 attackers – and asked why Iran should be blamed for other people’s mistakes.
The Middle East’s problems instead come from two sources – internal and external, he explained.
“The external problem is wrong choices. The internal problem is believing that you can rely on the outside for your prosperity, for your security, and for everything else.”
“You start with the wrong choice and you end up with the wrong result.”
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