He made the remarks in an interview with Iran’s Farhikhtegan Daily which was published on Wednesday.
In the extensive interview, he touched upon regional issues, Iran’s ties with its neighbors, Iran nuclear deal, and prospects of negotiations with the United States.
Asked about the probability of Iran-US talks, Velayati said, “We all should follow strategic views of the Islamic Revolution Leader. Strategic decisions regarding foreign policy are made by the Leader. And he has made clear comments about negotiation with US and we should act accordingly,”
“We have negotiated with them in two or three occasions but none have yielded results,” said the former foreign minister, adding, “We believe that there can be no trust in Americans while their president changes its words every day. All are counting lies of US President … is it possible to build trust in a liar?”
The remarks came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is in New York to attend the 74th UN General Assembly and Western media speculations about a probable meeting between him and US President Donald Trump has raised. Tehran has announced that there will be no bilateral talks with the US and that if Washington returns to JCPOA, it can resume talks with Iran in the framework of JCPOA along with other signatories.
Elsewhere, Velayati pointed to Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, saying, the Islamic Republic of Iran will never abandon nuclear technology. “We have gained some important and strategic achievements that we have to preserve according to long-term and short-term interests of the country; the first one is the regional influence, the second is defense weapons with appropriate range and the other is nuclear technology.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has forbidden the use of this technology in war, Velayati highlighted, adding, “However, nuclear technology has applications in some 500 industries.”
“Should we [abandon this technology and] then wait and ask Western countries to give us that back in drops and buy it expensively? Why should we let go of it when we have arrived at this point?” he framed.
He went on to say that any additional commitment than those under NPT, such as having permanent supervision over Iran nuclear program, is “meaningless”.
“Once we were committed to the JCPOA and acting according to the deal but now, we are taking back privileges in a step-by-step manner and according to the West’s lack of commitments,” highlighted Velayati.
MAH/IRN 83489981
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