FM-Designate Vows Efforts to Counter Sanctions

Foreign Ministry nominee Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he would do his utmost to neutralize anti-Iran sanctions along with efforts to have the restrictions revoked. 
Speaking before parliament to defend his qualifications on Sunday, he said negotiation will be valued as an instrument of diplomacy in his ministry so long as it is not protracted and guarantees the interests of the Iranian nation. 
“We see negotiation as a diplomatic tool but not under threat,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA. 
Over the past years, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has been engaged in a delicate task of tackling issues related to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
The deal lifted international sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program, but the United States pulled out unilaterally in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions, forcing the Islamic Republic to row back on its commitments in response. 
Negotiations started in April in Vienna, Austria, to convince both sides to resume full compliance, but the talks reached a halt after six rounds. 
Amir-Abdollahian stressed that the Foreign Ministry is not the ministry of JCPOA alone. 
“We will never run away from a logical negotiating table … but we will not tie the Foreign Ministry to the JCPOA,” he said.
He added that his ministry will adopt a “balanced” foreign policy which will not stagnate in one particular region.  
“We will pick several countries in each continent and region of the world as preferences of our foreign policy in those areas,” he said. 
Nevertheless, neighboring and Asian countries will take priority according to the minister-to-be.
“The 21st century belongs to Asia where we see emerging economic powers.”
Expanding relations with neighbors is also a strategic policy which the new Foreign Ministry pins strong faith in. 
“We hereby press the hands of friendship and brotherhood of all regional countries, especially the 15 neighboring states, and believe that we can build a safer and more developed region together,” Amir-Abdollahian said. 

Intra-Regional Coalitions 

He stressed the need for intra-regional dialogue and coalitions to achieve desirable outcomes, calling attention to the unfortunate fate of those regional states who put their faith in the US. 
Referring to Iran’s ties with Saudi Arabia, the ministerial nominee said cooperation between the two Muslim countries is “in everyone’s interest.” 
“Trade with Persian Gulf States will open up ample opportunities ahead of the countries of the region.” 
Tehran and Riyadh have had no diplomatic ties since 2016, but have both showed signs of rapprochement and recently held their first talks in years in Iraq. 
Amir-Abdollahian also stressed that the security of the region must be ensured by its own countries and he would welcome any initiative toward this end while trying to take the first step in offering related plans. 
He said “the resistance front” are Iran’s allies and his ministry will support and assist them to help promote maximum security in the region. 
The proposed minister later pointed to the developments in Afghanistan, reiterating the Islamic Republic’s stance in this regard. 
“We are committed to and will pursue the policy of supporting intra-Afghan dialogue so that the fate of Afghanistan is determined by its own people by forming of a national government with the aid of neighbors, not foreigners who dragged Afghanistan toward destruction over the past decades,” he said. 
The Foreign Ministry has faced problems in economy and international trade over the past four decades, according to Amir-Abdollahian, because it failed to adopt an economy-oriented approach. 
“This new approach will be pursued in the government of [President Ebrahim] Raeisi through economic diplomacy,” he said.