Speaking in his weekly press conference on Monday, Saeed Khatibzadeh answered the latest developments of the foreign policy of the country and a number of questions put forward by journalists.
In the beginning, he congratulated the advent of the 43rd glorious victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and stated, “This week our nation is celebrating the victory of a revolution- led by Grand Ayatollah Imam Khomeini- that was the triumph of the will and self-belief of our people, who, against all odds, overthrew a tyrannical foreign-backed regime. In an era that was characterized by fierce rivalry between two superpowers, their respective ideologies, and their spheres of influence, the Islamic Revolution of the Iranian nation presented a new model- a third way, best encapsulated in the historic and ever-lasting mottos of the Revolution: Independence, freedom and Islamic Republic & Neither East, Nor West."
"More than four decades on, those values continue to guide us. As a result of that and thanks to the resilience of our nation, today the Islamic Republic as a mature system is in its most powerful state ever and has become an indispensable and responsible actor, a force of good, and an anchor of stability in the region and beyond," he added.
"Regretfully, 43 years after the Islamic Revolution, some Western states, the United States in particular, still refuse to accept the fact that the rights and interests of Iranian nation should be respected. By insisting on the failed policies of the past four decades, they should not expect different results. The path of pressure and coercion has proven to be a miserable failure. Now in Vienna, they face a test. They can choose a different path with different results. By recognizing the realities of Iran and effectively abandoning the Maximum Failure approach, the US can open up new possibilities. The ball is in their court," the FM spokesman said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Khatibzadeh pointed to the resumption of talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries including the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany on Tuesday, Feb. 08 and said that the Iranian delegation, headed by chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, will travel to Vienna tomorrow and it is expected that all negotiation delegation would attend Vienna on the same day to continue talks.
In this round of talks, the Islamic Republic of Iran expects that all delegations including the United States would return to Vienna talks with clear-cut instructions in line with living up to its commitments under JCPOA and also removal of all anti-Iranian sanctions, he continued.
MA/FNA14001118000146/ MFA