TEHRAN, Sept 21 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran needs reassuring guarantees, as well as, the closure of the ongoing inquiry into the Islamic republic, by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), before a nuclear deal can be reached, Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, said yesterday.
According to a statement published on the Iranian presidency’s website, Raisi made the remarks, in a meeting with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Iran is ready to reach a “fair and stable” nuclear agreement, but considering the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran’s demand to “receive reassuring guarantees” is “completely reasonable and logical,” said Raisi.
The Iranian president also described the IAEA’s inquiry as “a serious obstacle to reaching an agreement,” noting that, “we believe that without the closure of Iran’s cases, it is not possible to reach an agreement.”
As for Iran-Europe relations, Raisi said, the improvement of Iran’s relations with Europe depended on the independence of the countries of the European continent, from the will and opinion of the United States.
Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July, 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear programme, in return for removing sanctions on the country. However, former U.S. President, Donald Trump, pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.
The IAEA has recently reiterated that Tehran had not provided “technically credible explanations” for uranium particles found at three undeclared sites.– NNN-IRNA
