President Ebrahim Raisi said he will take part in the United Nations General Assembly stoutly on behalf of the great Iranian nation who have withstood threats and sanctions and will defend their rights in an articulate manner.
“Since the media is controlled by domineering world powers, this opportunity must be used to spell out … the oppressions that the Iranian nation have suffered,” he told reporters on Monday before departing for New York to attend the 77th UN General Assembly, President.ir reported.
He added that participation in this summit is a chance to expound the rational and logical views of the Islamic Republic.
Raisi is set to hold bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders on the sidelines of the annual gathering, as well as meet Iranians residing in New York.
“Attending this assembly and the meetings are all in line with the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy which is based on self-esteem, wisdom and pragmatism,” he said.
The president stressed that no meeting with American officials has been planned during this visit.
He had already said in an interview with CBS News that such a meeting would not be beneficial, and that the Islamic Republic had not witnessed any changes in reality between the administration of President Joe Biden and that of former president Donald Trump who abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal and initiated a maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
Need for Guarantees
The Biden administration vowed to rejoin the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and negotiations began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria, to work out how both sides could resume compliance, as Iran also began to row back on its commitments in reaction to its jeopardized interests.
Both countries are currently responding to an initiative put forward by the European Union coordinator, but the latest developments have not been promising.
Western countries have been questioning Iran’s will to conclude a deal on JCPOA revival, while Iran insists that it legitimate demands must be met.
“If it’s a good deal and fair deal, we would be serious about reaching an agreement,” Raisi told CBS.
Tehran wants guarantees that the US would not violate the deal again and that sanctions would be removed effectively.
“It needs to be lasting. There needs to be guarantees. If there were a guarantee, then the Americans could not withdraw from the deal,” the president said.
He added that making promises by the US is meaningless now because they have already broken theirs unilaterally.
“We cannot trust the Americans because of the behavior that we have already seen from them. That is why if there is no guarantee, there is no trust.”
He called the sanctions “very tyrannical”, saying it is important to Tehran to have them removed, but also noted that such coercive approach will not work for the US.
“They can create restrictions and problems for us and difficulties. But there’s a number of countries that are being sanctioned. By doing this, they are bringing them closer together, making them more united. And this will render American sanctions ineffective,” he said.
