President Raisi: No nuclear deal without end to safeguard issues

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi says in order to reach a real and reassuring agreement with major world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, the safeguard issues and all probes, which have been used by the West as a Damocles sword, must be terminated in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

President Raisi, who was in New York to address the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, told a press conference on Thursday that the Islamic Republic does not regulate its political life under the domination of any power.

The Iranian president highlighted that the IAEA, after many years of inspecting Iran’s facilities, has repeatedly confirmed that the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program is peaceful.

He added, while Iran has been the only party that remained committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) after the US withdrawal in 2018, any deal on the nuclear deal that does not resolve the safeguard issues will not last.

He stressed that a logical and fair agreement hinges on providing reliable and reassuring guarantees, closing the case of safeguard issues and permanent removal of sanctions.

After several rounds of talks in the Austrian capital Vienna, Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA – the UK, France, Germany, Russian and China – have failed to break an impasse to save the deal and lift sanctions on Iran, with Tehran blaming Washington’s excessive demands for the standoff.

President Raisi had some harsh words for the US, saying the new sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic show Washington’s lack of sincerity in saving the JCPOA.

“Not only did they not remove the sanctions against Iran, but also imposed new sanctions on Iran during the negotiations. Good faith cannot be accepted by mere words and claims and must be proven in action,” the president said.

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