Ebrahim Raisi says Iran will never back down on red lines in Vienna talks
March 9, 2022, 6:58 pm

Ebrahim Raisi

The We For News reported, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed on Tuesday that Iran has not backed down on any of its red lines in the talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal and will never do so.

Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Iranian presidency’s website that making the remarks in a meeting held in the Iranian capital Tehran, Raisi added that his administration pursued the strategy of “neutralizing the sanctions” with seriousness in the first step.

In the second step, Raisi said, Iran seeks to remove the US sanctions through negotiations, in which full respect for the country has been guaranteed.

He noted that his administration is continuing the talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna completely on the principles and framework established by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, sticking to its declared red lines.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015. However, former US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran.

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Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and major parties to the JCPOA, namely Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany, in a bid to revive the deal. The US has been indirectly involved in the talks.

Source: wefornews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.