Iran will never compromise its "principled stances" in the face of sanctions, a senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said on Sunday.
"The countries that have imposed cruel sanctions against Iran should know that Iran will not back away from its principled stances," Ali Akbar Velayati told reporters after a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Tehran on Sunday, ICANA reported.
Commenting on the recent remarks by US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman that some sanctions will linger on even if nuclear negotiations end in a comprehensive agreement, Velayati said she is known for taking "radical and illogical" positions and that her remarks are directed at the hardliners inside the US to dissuade them from criticizing President Barack Obama.
In an answer to a question on the situation of Iran after negotiations, at a conference held by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank last week, Sherman said, "There is no grand bargain underway with Iran. The negotiation is about their nuclear program. We are quite well aware of what goes on in the region. All of our sanctions around terrorism, all of our sanctions around human rights, all of our concerns about instability in the region remain, and will for a very, very long time, I am sure, unfortunately," according to a transcript of her remarks posted on the website of the US State Department.
"The Islamic Republic will continue to live," Velayati said, adding that sanctions have no effect in this regard.
"However, it is natural that it (Iran) is after the removal of sanctions."
Rumor-Spreading Wanderer
On Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent remarks that Obama should take Israel's security into consideration in nuclear negotiations with Iran, director of the Center for Strategic Research of the Expediency Council called him "a rumor-spreading wanderer" whose remarks are "baseless", adding, "His words cannot be trusted and many do not approve of his methods and the style he speaks."
Regarding his meeting with Gentiloni, he said Italy has pioneered in helping reestablish Iran-Europe relations due to the historical relationship between Iran and Italy.
Regional and international issues and the tense situation in such countries as Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen were discussed, with the two sides stressing the need for continuing cooperation between the two countries' research centers to increase bilateral ties, Velayati explained.
Asked about the possible strategies Iran would adopt in response to positive or negative outcomes of the talks and whether the country would pursue its formal relations with the US in case of positive results, Velayati said, "As Italy's foreign minister said, raising harmful issues in the negotiations should be avoided."
"From the beginning of the talks, we have worked in line with international law, and we have been in pursuit of a positive resolution, otherwise negotiations would have been in vain," he said, stressing, "We have never taken any steps against international norms and have always tried to refute the accusations made with regard to the country's nuclear case."
The Italian foreign minister, for his part, praised Iran's "constructive" and "positive" role in Iraq and said promotion of "peace in the region" is "beneficial to all countries."
