Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi made the remarks in his press conference in response to a question about President Donald Trump’s possible meeting with Kim Jong Un to discuss North Korean nuclear weapons.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he would meet with North Korea's leader in May, adding that Kim talked "denuclearization" with South Korean officials and that the country would halt its missile tests in preparation for the meeting. The North Korea’s leader says however that he will not abandon his country’s nuclear weapon program that began in the 1990s, much to the frustration of Washington.
"If the talks happen, Iran will support any efforts for global peace and stability, but Washington's approaches and words have proved unreliable in practice," Ghasemi said.
About Rex Tillerson’s sudden firing and its possible impact on the Iran nuclear deal, Ghasemi said these changes in Trump’s administration are “nothing new”, adding “what is important to us is Washington’s policies and approaches toward Iran and global issues.”
Ghasemi expressed unawareness about rumors on possible postponing of the Friday joint commission’s meeting on JCOPA due to Tillerson’s termination, adding “of course the presence of the American side at the commission’s meetings has been accompanied by some side issues due to the frequent changes in Trump’s administration, but during this time the commission has held all its meetings, nevertheless.”
Asked to comment on Foreign Minister Zarif’s visit to Azerbaijan on Wednesday, Ghasemi described the visit as an “interesting initiative” to boost cooperation and convergence among regional governments and nations, which would in turn help stabilize peace and security across the region.
“We hope to promote peaceful coexistence among regional countries with the help of talks and dialogs,” Ghasemi said.
FM Zarif will leave for Baku later today to attend a four-sided meeting with his Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian counterparts.
“The Baku meeting will focus on political, economic and security cooperation, and will be a good opportunity for Mr. Zarif to exchange views with officials present at the meeting,” he added.
According to him, one of the key objectives of the meeting is to prepare the grounds for the Istanbul summit in May, to be attended by presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey.
About the recent assault outside Iranian ambassador’s residence in Vienna, Ghasemi said Iran is still waiting for more detailed information by the Austrian government.
He said the knife attacker who injured the guard and was shot dead on the spot was an Austrian national, but no further information has been released about him. Ghasemi stressed however that the Austrian government and police are following up on the case in earnest.
Ghasemi further dismissed rumors about cancelation of French President Macron’s visit to Iran in light of the visit of the French foreign minister, saying “the two visits are independent from one another, and President Macron’s visit will take place as soon as all necessary conditions are met.”
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