The Ball Is in US’ Court, Iranian President Says on JCPOA Revival

During his stay in New York last week, the Iranian president had an interview with the American CNN television network on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Raisi talked about a range of issues, such as the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States, the release of Iran's foreign exchange resources, and Iran's mistrust of a number of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors with English, French and German nationalities.

Regarding the prisoner exchange, the Iranian president said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran did a humanitarian act in the issue of prisoner exchange. As far as we know, the people who were imprisoned in America from Iran were unjustly arrested, but the people arrested in Iran had committed crimes that were proven in the proceedings and had a definite conviction."

"However, a mechanism was provided for this exchange to take place in the form of a humanitarian gesture, and I think that this was an action that both the families of these prisoners were pleased with, and that it was a completely humanitarian gesture," he said, his official website reported.

Asked about Iran's released assets, the president said, "This money belongs to the nation of Iran and it was unjustly and cruelly blocked until now. Naturally, this money should be spent to meet the needs of the Iranian nation, and this is one of our priorities."

Commenting on the issue of the IAEA and its inspectors, Raisi said, "If we wanted the IAEA not to inspect Iran's nuclear activities, we had other ways and we would have officially said that we will not cooperate, while Iran has wanted to cooperate from the beginning. This has been confirmed by the officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its managers and they emphasize that Iran has fully cooperated with the agency."

"This cooperation has been done in two ways, one by installing cameras that permanently and continuously record all the interactions of Iran's nuclear centers, and the second by periodic inspections by the agency's inspectors,” he added.

"Basically, we have stated many times that nuclear weapons have no place in Iran's defense doctrine, because we neither need them nor believe in nuclear weapons. In our opinion and based on the fatwa of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, nuclear weapons are among the weapons of mass destruction, and therefore both their production and storage are forbidden, and we adhere to this fatwa," he said.

"Iran has never said that we do not want an inspection. We said that our trust has been taken from the people who are related to these three countries, and it is doubtful, but we have no problem with the principle of inspection and the presence of inspectors from different nationalities, and inspectors from different nationalities have always come to Iran," the president added.

"Our serious question to these three European countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency is, why have you turned the agency into a tool of pressure on some countries? You know that your problem is not Iran's nuclear activities, you know that Iran has not had any nuclear activities in line with the production of weapons and has officially announced that it will never go for nuclear weapons, so what is all this political pressure for and what are you looking for?" Raisi stated.

"These actions are purely political and are carried out with the intention of putting pressure on Iran, but Iran has shown that it is a resilient country and by turning threats and pressures into opportunities, it is also pursuing its progress," he said.

Asked about enrichment of uranium to and above 60 percent purity level in Iran, President Raisi said, "You see, this action of Iran is in response the violation of commitments and agreements that happened on the part of the United States and three European countries. We did not seek 60% enrichment from the beginning. According to the JCPOA treaty, we had one commitment and the other commitment of America and Europeans; America withdrew from the agreement and the Europeans also violated their obligations, and it was only Iran that fulfilled its obligations according to the approval and emphasis of the International Atomic Energy Agency."

"This was done by Iran in response to the violation of the agreements that the parties to the treaty made with this country. The Islamic Republic of Iran officially announced that this action does not in any way mean going towards the production of nuclear weapons, but it is a response to the violation of commitments and non-committal behavior of the Europeans and the United States, and whenever these countries return to their commitments, Iran, as it has been until now, has fulfilled his commitments and will continue to fulfil them after this," he underlined.

"Today, European and American countries have to make a decision, why they became indecisive, why Europeans do not make a decision, Iran, which has officially announced its decision and opinion, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has conducted and is conducting an inspection; Today, the ball is in the court of America and Europe, they must decide to fulfil their obligations and cancel the sanctions," Raisi noted.

Asked about the regional issues, the Abraham Accords, and the normalization of relations of some Arab states with Israel, the Iranian president said, "It was the work of the Americans who put the hands of the Zionist Regime in the hands of some Arab governments or countries, but this does not mean acceptance of the issue by the Arab nations of these countries.

"Today, the Zionist regime is the most hated regime in the world and has committed numerous crimes against humanity and violated many agreements," he said.

"However, none of these American efforts, i.e., Iranophobia on the one hand, and the attempt to normalize relations with the Zionist regime in the region on the other hand, which are carried out with the aim of continuing the survival of this regime, have not worked so far," Raisi said.

"If America was successful in previous agreements and efforts to consolidate and stabilize the Zionist regime, it will also be successful in the recent effort to normalize relations".

On the solution to the Palestinian issue, he said, "They should go back to 75 years ago and recognize the rights of the Palestinian people, but the Zionist regime and its Western supporters, instead of the root and fundamental solution, which is the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people, have gone to the normalization of the relations of this regime in the region, which cannot in any way help the Zionist regime and its security, durability and survival.

"Why does the President of the United States hold a meeting and invite the heads of the three countries of the region to come and sign an agreement on the normalization of relations with the Zionist regime in his presence? Are these measures security-building for the Zionist regime? Can these advertising shows create security?" he asked.

"How is the situation in the region today? In the crisis that the US created in Syria, did the Americans succeed or the Syrian people? Definitely the Syrian people. In the crisis created in Afghanistan, did the Americans succeed or the people of Afghanistan? Definitely the nation of Afghanistan. What about the war in Iraq? Where in this region have the United States and how many of its allies achieved success?" he added.

"In this many-year confrontation against the Islamic Republic of Iran, our nation showed both its strength and power of resistance, and by expanding the culture of resistance in the region, it was able to achieve great successes for the Islamic world,” the president said.

"America wanted the Islamic Republic of Iran to be isolated in the world, but this policy of theirs also failed, because they see the world community as exclusive to themselves and a few European countries, but the world consists of more than 200 countries, and today we are connected to all the countries of the world,” he stated.

"Today, it is America's power that is declining in the world, and in contrast, the position of the Islamic Republic is getting stronger day by day,” he added.

On last year's unrest in Iran, the president said, "Every year, you see the marches of millions of the Iranian nation on 22 Bahman and Quds Day, which is the real manifestation of the presence of the Iranian nation on the stage. What happened in the fall of last year in some streets of Iran, consisted of some deceived people who of course were pardoned by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution. In the case of a few others who committed crimes, their case should be judicially investigated.

"What happened last year in the form of a combined war against the Iranian nation was fully supported by the United States and several European countries. In the media part of this war, some TV channels, whose offices are in America and Europe, officially taught assassination, violence and explosions,” he explained.

"Therefore, the issue of America and European countries is neither Iran's women nor nuclear activity, they want the Iranian nation to be obedient to them, while this nation has achieved independence for more than 40 years and will not surrender to the will of the Americans. Regarding the hijab issue, it should be said that in the ancient history of the Iranian nation, women's lives have always been chaste and have nothing to do with governments. They chose the hijab not because of the Islamic Republic but because of their beliefs. At the same time, hijab is a legal obligation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and when an issue becomes a law in the world, everyone must adhere to it," Raisi noted.

"Westerners' efforts to highlight the issue of gender, women and hijab in Iran is only creating two poles in Iranian society. For years, they have been promoting their goals in other countries with polarization, but they will definitely not achieve their goals in relation to the Iranian nation, because this nation is a sensible nation that has realized that the Westerners are not benevolent and sympathetic to them,” he added.

"In my opinion, the period when America wants to dominate nations with these methods is over. Emerging powers have formed in the world that will shape the future of the world".

The president said, "I have always exposed myself to the media's questions and have had numerous interviews with domestic and foreign media to explain the positions of the Iranian nation correctly, but why do the Americans not let the right words reach the ears of the nations? American officials should be asked about this; Media sanctions are injustice to people and nations,” the Iranian president concluded.