President Raisi says Iran will not give up its 'nuclear rights'
April 9, 2022, 5:38 pm

President Raisi says Iran will not give up its 'nuclear rights'

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The US News reported, citing Reuters, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday (Apr 9) Tehran would not give up its right to develop its nuclear industry for peaceful purposes, and all parties involved in talks to revive the 2015 nuclear accord should respect this.

Eleven months of indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Vienna have stalled as both sides say political decisions are required by Tehran and Washington to settle the remaining issues.

State media quoted Raisi as saying in a speech marking Iran's Nuclear Technology Day: "For more than the one-hundredth time, our message from Tehran to Vienna is that we will not back off from the Iranian people's nuclear rights... not even an iota."

Raisi reiterated Iran’s stand that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

Iranian and Western sources had told Reuters, the United States is considering removing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from its foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) blacklist in return for Iranian assurances about reining in the elite force.

One Iranian diplomat told Reuters that Tehran had rejected a U.S. proposal to overcome the sticking point by keeping the IRGC’s overseas arm, the Quds Force, under FTO sanctions, while delisting the IRGC as an entity.

Josep Borrell says nuclear agreement with Iran very close

The IRGC is a powerful faction in Iran that controls a business empire as well as elite armed and intelligence forces that Washington accuses of carrying out a global terrorist campaign.

Source: usnews

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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.