Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyed Mohammad Hosseini said that the issue of bilateral negotiations with the United States is not on Tehran’s agenda.
Speaking to reporters during his weekly press conference here on Sunday, Hosseini said in response to a question about the United States’ preconditions for attending talks with Iran that the US is like a drowning individual, who sets prerequisites and uses the language of threat and force to be rescued.
“The US should change its policies and performance,” he stressed.
“No change has been made in the US policies,” the diplomat mentioned, adding that the United States is still pursuing the same old policies regarding Iran and the region.
“We are still observing the same policies including extension of sanctions against Iran for another five years, blocking Iran’s assets and exerting different pressures on Iran during the period of negotiations between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — China, Russia, Britain, France — plus Germany).
He further called on the occupying forces to withdraw from Iraq and the entire region.
Hosseini stressed that Iran sets no preconditions for helping the Iraqi nation but, meantime, pointed out that the occupying forces should leave Iraq and the entire region.
“Iran is ready to provide all-out assistances to the Iraqi people,” he reiterated, and further reminded that presence of occupiers in Iraq is the real source of the insecurities and instability in that country.
The spokesman also voiced Iran’s full preparedness to cooperate with the Iraqi government in all fields in a bid to help to the establishment of stability and tranquility in that country.
Asked about the recent Hamilton report by Iraq’s Study Group, he said, “Let’s make no speculation in this regard. The US officials, themselves, have not had enough time to examine it from all dimensions.”
The foreign ministry spokesman said Iran would announce its official views and stances in this regard after the US proclaims its official stance on withdrawal from Iraq.
As regards the West’s efforts to issue a UN resolution for sanctions against Iran, he said that the draft resolution presented by the three European states was very close to the US stance, and expressed regret over the stance adopted by the EU3 (i.e. Germany, France, and Britain) on Iran’s nuclear case.
“They have taken up the wrong course,” Hosseini mentioned.
He also expressed the hope that the other party (particularly the EU3) “would return to the right course, which is that of negotiations.”
Meantime, the diplomat warned the other party against the adoption of any resolution against Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and stressed that in future his country would adopt its decisions with a prior look at the type of decisions the Group 5+1 would adopt.
“If the UN Security Council adopts a resolution against Iran, Tehran will revise its policies on the degree of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” he said.
Asked about some concerns stated by regional states on the security of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, the spokesman assured that “there is no reason for regional countries to be concerned in this regard since the power plant has been constructed in compliance with the highest world safety standards endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
He further extended an invitation to all regional experts to inspect Bushehr power plant and its safety system.
Elsewhere, the foreign ministry spokesman strongly rejected recent allegations about Iran’s interference in the internal affairs of Lebanon and stressed Tehran’s transparent and clear ties with Beirut.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never interfered in domestic affairs of Lebanon and may never do so in the future either,” Hosseini underscored.
Asked about a conference in Tehran on Holocaust, Hosseini said it is an unbiased conference to be attended by pros and cons of the Holocaust, assuring that the conference will have a scientific, research and specialized nature.
