When the Islamic Republic offered its proposals for the removal of all sanctions, effective verification of the removal of the sanctions and the need for guarantees from the other parties, the Americans, the Europeans along with Israel and some regional governments launched a media campaign against Iran to blame it for an impasse in the talks, Keyhan wrote.
They focused on such scenarios as the defeat of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, setting a deadline for Iran in the talks and threatening it with military action to blame Iran, added the daily.
“The change in the direction of the nuclear talks and the perseverance and insistence of the Iranian negotiating team led the US and the Europeans to back down on their initial positions and accept new drafts tabled by Iran as the basis for the future talks,” Keyhan wrote.
However, the paper said, despite accepting Iran’s proposals as the basis for the talks, the US and the Europeans continued their media campaign as part of a blame game against Iran.
This comes as Iran’s top negotiator Ali Bagheri also said before the pause in the talks on Thursday that the European sides have accepted Tehran’s proposed texts as the basis for further negotiation.
“US, Europeans accepted Iran’s proposals in Vienna talks despite pretending otherwise”
Council Announces Reasons for Ali Larijani’s Disqualification in Iran’s 2021 Presidential Race
Among the reasons, said the council, was Larijani’s role in creating part of the disorder during the tenure of the former Iranian administration and that one of his children was residing in the United States.
As stipulated in the council’s letter, other reasons for Larijani’s disqualification included the numerous trips that his family members had to foreign countries, including Europe and the US, one of his other children staying in the United States, and some of his close relations living and continuing their studies in Britain, which ran counter to directives by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Larijani’s political stances and his remarks on different issues and at different points in time during the unrest touched off by dissidents following Iran’s 2009 presidential election have also been mentioned as other reasons why his qualification was not approved.
As stated in the letter, among other reasons was interference by on of Larijani’s children in Parliament’s construction and service contracts as well as failure to observe the principle that officials should lead a simple life.
Meanwhile, Ali Larijani responded to the letter, slamming the claim that he was responsible for part of the disorder during the previous administration.
“Strange enough, the Guardian Council qualified individuals who served in state positions during the former administration, including the head of government himself, and the council did not blame them for the disorder within the administration, but it blames me for having contributed to the disorder while I had no responsibility in the administration and I only served in Parliament,” said Larijani.
In his letter, Larijani also denied that his child was residing in the United States.
“[The claim] that my child is residing in the US is a sheer lie; rather, she is there for her and her husband’s education,” he wrote.
“The claim that my families had numerous trips to Europe and the United States is 100% false,” he said.
“During the time following the [1979 Iran’s Islamic] Revolution, my family and I once travelled to Britain for education, but we immediately changed our minds and quit,” he added.
“Also, my wife travelled to Britain in the 1980s two times in order to take care of my child’s situation and for ‘positron emission tomography imaging’ to be conducted on my child to reveal the extent of the progress of the disease as my child was suffering from a tough illness,” he noted.
“She was there for five days at our own personal expense,” said Larijani.
In response to the claim that one of his children had interfered in Parliament’s contracts, Larijani asked the Judiciary chief to look into the matter immediately and inform the public of the results of the inquiry accordingly.
Larijani added he and his children would be ready for any legal punishment.
“But if it turns out that an institution has issued a false report, announce it publicly,” he said.
Larijani also responded to the claim about his political stances and his remarks on different issues and at different points in time during the unrest touched off by dissidents following Iran’s 2009 presidential election.
Larijani said he had, from the very outset, made comments about issues such as the clergy, trusteeship by the Jurisconsult, the late Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Holy Defense (the name coined to refer to Iran’s resistance during the eight-year Iraqi-imposed war in the 1980s), nuclear issues, international affairs, etc.
“Were there any problems with any of these to result in my disqualification?” he asked rhetorically.
He also weighed in on issues pertaining to the chaos triggered by dissidents following Iran’s 2009 presidential election.
“Suppose the Guardian Council’s viewpoints on some issues, including the post-election sedition in 2009, were different from those of mine. Can it be a reason for my disqualification? Were my stances on the 2009 unrest against Islam, the Constitution, people’s basic rights and the directives set by the Leader?” he noted.
Iran to check cameras before installation at nuclear site
“Iran conditioned the replacement of damaged cameras at Karaj installations on three things, namely ‘conducting a judicial-security investigation into the act of sabotage which took place’, ‘the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemning the act of sabotage,’ and ‘Iran carrying out technical-security examinations on the new cameras before they are installed,’” said AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi.
He was referring to the sabotage attack on the site last June, Tehran says was carried out by Israel.
“Iran’s voluntary issuance of a permit to replace these cameras was not within the framework of a new agreement, but came after these three preconditions were met,” he explained.
“Iran is to begin the process of technical-security checks on the cameras on Sunday, December 19, 2021,” he added.
“Iran-IAEA talks which took place between Mr. Eslami and Rafael Grossi had nothing to do with the [Vienna] negotiations and were just ordinary talks within the framework of the current issues between the two sides; so, the claim that Iran did that under pressure is not true,” he said.
“From the very beginning, we hadn’t said that we would allow the cameras to be installed; rather, we had subjected it to the fulfillment of three preconditions,” said the spokesman.
“As a technical institution, the AEOI is engaged in ongoing interactions with the IAEA within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement, and these interactions should not be politicized,” said Kamalvandi.
He said the West and the Israeli regime launch media campaigns and psychological warfare to politicize Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA.
“Unfortunately, there are inclinations within the IAEA in this regard, too,” he said.
Establishment of all-inclusive govt. key to resolving Afghan crisis: Iran
“The key solution is to form an all-encompassing government with the participation of all Afghan groups, and this message should be reflected, with one voice, to the international community and the temporary ruling elite in this country,” said Hossein Amir Abdollahian upon arrival in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad early Sunday.
He then touched upon a foreign ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to be held in Islamabad.
“The extraordinary foreign ministerial meeting of the OIC mainly focuses on Afghanistan developments on which, and on whose relevant events Iran has some concerns,” the top diplomat added.
He said growing terrorism and the increasing number of Afghan migrants and refugees, who have been flowing into Iran over the past months, are among Iran’s concerns.
He expressed hope the OIC conference will be able to unanimously send a message to the international community and the transitional ruling authority with regards to the necessity of the establishment of an all-inclusive government in Afghanistan.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir Abdollahian referred to close and cordial relations between Iran and Pakistan, saying the administration of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi pays due regard to relations with neighboring countries, including Pakistan.
“The thirteenth administration has a clear plan and road map for further enhancement of ties with Pakistan,” he added.
Amir Abdollahian has arrived in Islamabad to attend an extraordinary foreign ministerial meeting of the OIC, with Afghanistan top of the agenda.
Iran: Vienna talks adjourned following consensus
Khatibzadeh said the three countries, namely, Britain, Germany and France as well as the other members of the P4+1 group are fully aware that the talks were adjourned following a consensus among all parties and because the European sides were going on the New Year holidays.
Khatibazadeh noted that it is not the first time the Western parties lie and spread misinformation.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the European countries should show seriousness and determination to advance the talks instead of resorting to threadbare and futile blame-games.
Persian Gulf Hosting Seagulls
The flight of seagulls, locally known as Shalos, on the coasts of the Persian Gulf is a kind of lively coexistence that brings happiness to people yearning to feed the birds.
Firefighters battling flames in Iran’s National Park
The director general of Golestan Environmental Protection Organization said the topographic location of the region and thick smoke from the fire have made it difficult for the firefighters and two IRGC aerospace helicopters to battle the flames in the Ghoshecheshmeh area of Golestan National Park.
Mohammad Reza Kanani added that since Wednesday, due to weather conditions, a sharp decrease in humidity and wind gusts, four fires have broken out in Golestan National Park.
There are no reports of animal casualties from the fires.
Golestan has 452,185 hectares of forest. According to experts, fire, destruction, land grabs and drought are among the challenges facing the forests of northern Iran, and special measures must be taken to address these problems of this valuable ecosystem.
Iranians mark martyrdom anniversary of Hazrat Fatemeh
Black flags of mourning have been hoisted on the dome of the shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (AS) in Qom and they are also flying in the streets and squares across the city. Hazrat Masoumeh is the sister of Imam Reza, the eighth Shia Imam.
Mourning ceremonies marking the occasion started on Saturday morning. At the ceremonies lecturers and eulogizers addressed crowds of people commemorating Hazrat Fatemeh’s death.
People across Iran, especially in the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad, mark the martyrdom anniversary of Hazrat Fatemeh each year at this time.
Covid deaths hit lowest level in a year
The total fatalities now stand at 131,033. Most Covid deaths of the past 24 hours happened in Tehran where 6 people succumbed to the disease. Currently, no cities are marked red or orange in Iran in terms of risk from the Coronavirus while 395 cities and towns are blue, which shows the lowest level of danger.
Following the fifth wave of Covid, Iran has seen a downward trend in deaths and infections. This has been attributed to the government’s measures to import huge quantities of Covid vaccine and also domestic production of jabs.
A total of 112,819,927 doses of vaccine have been administered in Iran since a countrywide vaccination campaign started last year.
Despite the decline in the number of deaths and new cases, authorities are warning about the Omicran variant of Covid, saying failure to observe health protocols could reverse the downward trend.
Negotiators in Vienna know next right steps: Russia
Mikhail Ulyanov said the key result of the seventh round of talks in Vienna was that ground has been prepared to revise the documents available on the negotiating table.
The negotiators have got used to each other, said Ulyanov, who is also Russia’s representative to international organizations in Vienna.
He said “we and the Western sides” have come to better realize what the next right steps will be.
The top diplomat added none of the negotiators was trying to undermine the first six round of negotiations.
Ulyanov said negotiators showed a respectful approach toward the new elements in Iran’s position.
“This was very important and we achieved it,” he said.
He added the next round of negotiations will be held in late December or early January next year, though no exact date has been set, yet.
He underlined cooperation between the Russian and American delegations at the talks is pragmatic and based on the two countries’ interests.
He said Moscow and Washington are interested in the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Iran during the tenure of Donald Trump, the former US president.
