Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi who was one of the key negotiators in the nuclear talks with the world powers has told Spanish El Pais that the United States withdrawal from the nuclear deal will lead to its isolation in the international arena, adding that if they try to link JCPOA to other issues, they will lose the agreement and make it more complicated to resolve the rest of the issues.
In response to the question on whether Iran is happy with the EU Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete’s proposals made during his recent visit to Iran, Araghchi said “we are not aware of all the aspects yet. We are waiting for the Europeans to deliver to us an economic package that they have promised and we had held discussions on.”
Araghchi added that Iran is looking for Europeans’ guarantees to neutralize the US sanctions, for example on the sale of Iran’s oil, to have effective banking transactions and to protect European companies doing business in Iran.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister warned the Europeans of linking the nuclear agreement with other issues including Iran’s missile program and its fight against terrorism in Syria and Iraq, saying "they will lose the agreement and make the rest of the issues even more complicated to solve. It would be a great mistake to mix them."
Regarding Iran’s presence in Syria, Araghchi said “being in Syria is a security issue for Iran because we know that if we do not fight the terrorists in Syria or Iraq, we will have to do it on the streets of Tehran, as we had to do a year ago with the assault on Parliament.”
With regard to relations with neighboring Arab countries, the Iranian official said that Arab sattes in the region should reassess their approach towards Iran, and called for their help to stabilize the already volatile region.
Araghchi noted that at the last security conference in Munich, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif proposed a forum for regional dialogue between the Persian Gulf countries but his proposal fell on deaf ears; "we hope that others in the region support the idea and we can establish the dialogue forum," he added.
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