kayhan.ir

News ID: 4544
Publish Date : 31 August 2014 - 21:45
FM Zarif on New U.S. Sanctions:

Iran’s Response Could Be Unpleasant

TEHRAN (Dispatches) —Iran’s possible response to new U.S. sanctions could "not be pleasant”, its foreign minister said on Sunday, raising the prospect of tit-for-tat retribution against the Islamic Republic’s old adversary weeks ahead of fresh nuclear talks.

Iranian officials reacted with dismay to Friday’s announcement that Washington was going to penalize a number of Iranian and other foreign companies, banks and airlines for violating sanctions against Tehran, most of which are tied to a decade-old dispute about its nuclear program.

Washington said the moves were a signal that there would be no let-up of sanctions while international talks were underway to ease the economic measures in exchange for Iran’s agreement to curb its nuclear activities.

Iran says its nuclear program is for civilians ends only and denies allegations from the West that it may want to develop nuclear weapons.

On Saturday President Hassan Rouhani said the new curbs were unconstructive and against the spirit of the talks, although he added he was not pessimistic.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif told a news conference that Iran would respond to the sanctions "if deemed necessary”, according to news agency IRNA.

"We can take actions that would be unpleasant to the other side,” he added. Zarif did not elaborate on what the measures might be.

He added that the sanctions had been implemented to appease "pressure groups in the U.S. that are against any nuclear deal”, using a phrase Iranian officials normally invoke to refer to Israeli interest groups.

The measure taken by the United States is unconstructive and is against the spirit of the Geneva agreement, he said.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran believes that such measures would make it more difficult to reach a final comprehensive deal with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Iran and world powers - the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China - are set to resume nuclear talks in mid-September on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly Meeting in New York.

The parties failed to meet an  earlier self-imposed July 20 deadline for a comprehensive accord and decided to prolong the talks until Nov 24.

Zarif also said he is ready to meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart on the sidelines of next month’s UN General Assembly, and to visit the Persian Gulf Arab country later this year.

Muhammad Javad Zarif’s remarks come amid a slight diplomatic warming between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are fiercely divided over the war in Syria and other regional conflicts.

"The first opportunity for talks between me and his Excellency (Foreign Minister Prince) Saud al-Faisal is on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, and we hope to be able to use the opportunity,” Zarif said during a joint news briefing with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja. "After that I am ready to visit Saudi Arabia and welcome (Saud) to Iran.”

Saudi Arabia invited Zarif to visit in May.

Zarif’s deputy Hussein Amir Abdollahian visited Saudi Arabia last week and met its foreign minister, in the highest-level bilateral talks between the two Middle East powers since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was elected last year.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are both concerned about the threat posed by the rise of the ISIL in Iraq — a country they both border — and they have expressed support for Haider al-Abadi as Iraq’s prime minister-designate.

Zarif made the remarks during a joint news conference with visiting Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja in which he also warned against the threat of sectarianism, violence and extremism to all regional countries and the world, saying they must be countered seriously.

"Double-standard views to the phenomenon of terrorism should be avoided,” Zarif said.

He pointed to deep-rooted relations and positive political, economic, trade and cultural cooperation between Iran and Finland and said the two countries enjoy appropriate grounds for improving ties.

The Iranian minister called for strengthening cooperation with Finland in the fields of trade, economy and the environment.

Tuomioja, for his part, assessed his visit to Tehran as important regarding the ongoing developments in the region.

He called for further expansion of cooperation between Tehran and Helsinki in all fields.

The Finnish foreign minister also met with President Rouhani who said unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program run counter to international regulations and are detrimental to the European Union as well.

"Sanctions have so far led to lose-lose outcomes and we hope that Finland, as a member of the European Union, will make efforts to end this trend and help achievement of a final and fair agreement,” Rouhani said.

He added that Iran will never accept any discrimination in contradiction to international regulations and seeks to achieve its rights just like other members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"If the P5+1 countries seek to continue talks with Iran in line with international regulations and with the purpose of building more confidence and transparency, we will also proceed with these negotiations which will be beneficial to the two sides with complete goodwill,” the Iranian president pointed out.

Rouhani emphasized that Iran and the six world powers can reach a final agreement if the six countries do not intend to exert pressure on Tehran in order to hinder its scientific and technological development.

He once again insisted on Iran’s redlines in the nuclear talks and said, "Iran will never negotiate on its defense capability including defense missiles.”

The Finnish foreign minister, for his part, said his country would fully support nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six countries to reach a final agreement in due time.

Tuomioja added that the final outcome of the negotiations should lead to a win-win game for both sides.