Speaking to the national Iranian TV on Thursday night a day ahead of the fifth round of talks with the United States on the nuclear issue in Rome, Abbas Araghchi stressed that it will not back down from its nuclear rights.
He said the 2015 nuclear deal fully known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not dead yet but it cannot be revived, too. He added that the JCPOA revival will bear no fruit to Iran.
“We will not retreat from our rights. Our nuclear program—including enrichment—must continue. However, we are ready to adopt confidence-building and transparency measures and accept broader monitoring, because we are confident in the peaceful nature of our program,” he said.
The top Iranian negotiator in the talks with the United States said that the Europeans threaten to trigger the snapback mechanism incorporated in the 2015 nuclear deal with the aim of playing a part in the ongoing negotiations while they are not involved at all. “Europe has no role in the negotiations taking place between us and the United States.”
Araghchi advised the Europeans not to trigger the snapback mechanism as they would put in crisis the Non-Proliferation Treaty if they go ahead with their threats.
“If Europe wants to play a role, it must abandon its hostile and confrontational policies toward Iran.”
The foreign minister said that he and his teammates will depart for the Italian capital for the fifth round of talks, noting that “We have to wait and see tomorrow whether the other side is willing to revise its positions.”
“We will continue diplomacy as long as the Americans come along with us and accept our positions,” he added.
He said that he penned a letter to the UN Secretary General earlier today about the Israeli threats against the Iranian nuclear facilities, saying “I made it clear that we are ready for a decisive response and that if the threats continue, we will be forced to make special arrangements to protect our facilities and materials. They must know what we mean by the special arrangements.”
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