Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today warned the United States that it would not gain any advantage in talks on Iran’s nuclear program through “sabotage” or “sanctions.”
“Americans need to know that neither sanctions nor sabotage will provide them with a bargaining chip, and that these actions will only complicate the situation for them,” Zarif said 48 hours after an accident at Natanz nuclear plant. which Tehran attributed to “sabotage” of Israel.
At a joint press conference under AMPE, gave to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the Zarif stressed that the attack on Natanz was a “bad bet” on the Israeli side, which will strengthen the position of Tehran in talks are being held in Vienna to rescue the 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, from which the US unilaterally withdrew in 2018.
“I assure you that in the near future more advanced technology centrifuges will be installed at the Natanz facility,” he said.
“The Israelis believed that the attack would weaken our position in the Vienna talks, but instead strengthen it,” he said.
Saving the deal
For his part, Lavrov said Russia wanted to salvage the 2015 agreement if the US eventually returned to it, and accused the EU of threatening talks by imposing new sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses.
“We believe that we will be able to save the agreement and that Washington will finally return to its full implementation,” he said.
Lavrov once again called on the United States to lift the sanctions it re-imposed on Tehran in 2018, after withdrawing from the agreement.
At the same time, the Russian minister attacked the EU, which, according to him, threatens the efforts carried out after the announcement yesterday of sanctions against eight officials of the Iranian security forces for their role in the violent suppression of the protests of November 2019.
“If there is no coordination in the EU and the right hand does not know what the left is doing, it is a disaster,” he said.
“But if this decision was made deliberately in the midst of the ongoing negotiations in Vienna to save the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, then it is not a disaster, it is a mistake that is worse than a crime,” Lavrov concluded.
The Russian foreign minister arrived in Tehran today to hold talks with Iranian officials on rescuing the 2015 nuclear deal.
In addition to his Iranian counterpart, Lavrov will also meet with President Hassan Rohani, according to the Irna news agency.
