Iran Spokesman Rules Out JCPOA on Regional Issues

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi has ruled out what is called a regional JCPOA between Iran and the Mideast countries to resolve the current woes.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry official said the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries was something different from what is going on between Iran and its Persian Gulf neighbours.

“This is a totally different issue which needs special solutions,” Qassemi added.

Speaking at a weekly press conference in Tehran on Monday, he called the Riyadh Summit which was held on May 20-21 on the occasion of the visit of United States President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia, an untimely conference with a wrong layout.

“After the Riyadh Summit, some things came up that led to adverse consequences in the region. Considering the tensions in the region, we believe that the involved countries can resolve their issues in a positive trend through diplomacy. We call on them to show restraint and sit at a table to negotiate,” he noted.

“Our policy towards our neighbours is clear and we have constantly cooperated with them and if needed, we are ready to boost cooperation. There is no limitation in this regard if it would be a mutual cooperation,” Qassemi noted.

Regarding the creation of more convergence between Iran and Qatar, the Iranian spokesman said that, as far as possible, Iran has had good relations with the neighbours.

“We have established good contacts and ties with Qatar and such an interest exists [in ties] with the rest of the countries in the region. Based on a variety of reasons and backgrounds, Iran has always been in dialogue with Turkey as well and the disagreements could never spoil friendship.”

Qassemi went on to say that “FM [Mohammad Javad] Zarif has begun consultations on a variety of issues and made a visit to Turkey to discuss different topics including bilateral issues, regional ones, and Syria. We also held talks with nine high-ranking officials in Astana (during Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit) and hope they may have a positive impact.”

He also talked about the unwillingness of Iran’s neighbours to join the so-called Arab NATO, saying that some of the world realities are being copied, but they are too far from the realities of the region and such developments must be observed. “What we witnessed in ‘Riyadh Show’ changed very soon,” the spokesman added.

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