The head of Iran's Strategic Foreign Relations Council Seyyed Kamal Kharrazi has said Tehran wants to hold regional dialogue with important countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt, Qatar and other countries.
Kharrazi made the remarks in a recent interview with Qatari Al-Jazeera amid the US President's Middle East trip.
The only solution to regional crises is the formation of a regional forum for dialogue to resolve political and security disputes, according to Kharrazi, who was Iran's former foreign minister and also acts as an advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei.
The former Iranian foreign minister further said that "the Middle East NATO is a trivial (superficial) idea and as Saudi Arabia has confirmed, it is out of agenda."
He also said that Tehran welcomes Saudi Arabia's statement of extending a hand of friendship and is ready to talk and restore relations with Saudis to normalcy.
Kharrazi went on to say that Iran will respond directly to any threat against its security.
"Targeting our security from neighboring countries will be dealt with a response from us to these countries and a direct response to Israel. We have held extensive drills targeting Israel's depth in case our sensitive facilities are targeted."
He also touched upon the nuclear program and the talks to revive the JCPOA and said that "There are no American guarantees relating to preserving the nuclear deal (JCPOA), and this will freeze any possible agreement. If the IAEA were fair and independent, it would be easy to resolve disputes."
He also pointed out that "Iran does not negotiate with anyone about its missile program and its regional policies."
The advisor to Iran's Leader further said that "Direct talks with Washington is difficult due to the thick wall of mistrust and American policies."
It is no secret that we have the technical capability to build a nuclear bomb, but we do not intend to do so. In just a few days, we increased the uranium enrichment from 20 to 60% and we can easily increase it to 90%."
KI/FNA14010426000658