Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated on Sunday, November 16, that his country is always ready to engage diplomatically to resolve issues related to its nuclear program but will not give in to pressure and bullying, nor will it sacrifice its right to have a peaceful nuclear program.
“Our policy is quite clear, we continue to pursue diplomacy and support the peaceful resolution of international disputes, but at the same time we will not bow down to bullying, hegemony, and excesses and will resist,” Araghchi said while speaking during a conference called “International Law Under Attack: Aggression and Defense” in Tehran.
Iran’s willingness to engage in any future negotiations is conditional to the fact that they are “fair, strategic, and based on mutual interests,” Araghchi proclaimed, restating his country’s historic position.
Araghchi claimed that Western countries are now showing renewed interest in negotiations with Iran because they have realized their attempts to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities through military means have failed.
In June, the US joined Israel to launch illegal attacks inside Iran in an attempt to destroy its nuclear facilities. The “12 days war”, as it is called by the Iranians, killed hundreds of people, including some prominent scientists and top military officials in Iran. Iran’s retaliatory attacks killed scores of Israelis. The war ended with a ceasefire.
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The US and Israel had claimed that Iran’s nuclear facilities were destroyed in those attacks. However, Iran has maintained that that was not the case.
Araghchi informed that there are no enrichment activities taking place in the country at the moment and there are no undeclared enrichment facilities. However, “Iran will never give up its right to peaceful nuclear energy” and the international community, including the US, must recognize this, he underlined.
“Our [nuclear] facilities were damaged [in the June attacks], but our technology remains, and our will is even stronger,” he claimed on Sunday.
US is destroying the rules-based order
Araghchi noted how the current approach of the US government towards Iran “in no way indicates its readiness for equal and fair negotiations.”
He pointed out how Israeli attacks on Iran in June were carried out with US approval and how it targeted the negotiations which were going on at the time between Iran and the US, saying that “diplomacy was the first victim of the 12-day war”.
The Israeli attacks on Iran in June began on the eve of the fifth round of scheduled indirect talks between the US and Iran.
Iran had rejected earlier US demands of completely dismantling its nuclear program and limiting the ranges of its missiles so that they cannot reach Israel, and termed them “madness”. Araghchi claimed that in the lawless world which US President Donald Trump has created it is necessary to be strong to defend oneself.
Araghchi said that through its policies of resorting to force and defying international law, the US is destroying the rule-based order and establishing “laws of the jungle” in the world.
The US and its allies want to create a world where they can “do whatever they want, attack anywhere, anytime, order the evacuation of cities, demand unconditional surrender, and decide what should and should not be done in which country,” Araghchi said.
He emphasized that in the absence of strong international regimes and legal protections, the world will descend into anarchy as all countries will be forced to strengthen their defense capabilities.
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