Iran Would Not Negotiate on Nuclear Issue Under Pressure

A senior Iranian diplomat stressed that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal under pressure and intimidation, nor would it give any concessions under such circumstances. 
“Iran will not negotiate from a position of weakness and need,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said at a regular press briefing on Monday, ISNA reported. 
Tehran has been engaged in indirect talks with the United States to restore the multinational nuclear deal that curbed its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief. 
The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, unraveled when the US pulled out in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions, prompting Iran to row bask on its commitments in response. 
The talks in the Austrian capital Vienna have been stalled for months over final differences. 
While the US accuses Iran of making extraneous demands, Tehran blames Washington for its lack of will to make the required political decisions and meet the Islamic Republic’s legitimate demands. 
US officials have been claiming in recent weeks that the negotiations are no longer their priority due to other developments, including Iran’s alleged supply of arms to Russia for its war on Ukraine, as well as its domestic unrest following the death of a young girl in police custody in September. 
Some European parties have also been echoing the same positions on the Vienna talks.
Iranian officials dismiss the claim, maintaining that the exchange of messages is still underway through intermediaries. 
“The contradiction in the statements and behavior of western parties to the JCPOA, especially the US, is nothing new,” Kanaani said. 
He also stressed that Tehran is after concluding an agreement on the JCPOA, but noted that it is not a need for Iran alone. 
“The need for the JCPOA is not a unilateral need … the US and the West’s need for the JCPOA is no less than Iran’s,” he said. 
Kanaani reiterated that an agreement is within reach in the short term provided that the other parties possess the required political will. 
He also advised European parties to avoid surrendering to US demands. 

Bad Precedent 

Asked about a US push to expel Iran from a United Nations women’s equality and empowerment body on grounds of the recent riots, Kanaani said any abuse of Iran’s domestic developments for the purpose of imposing political pressure on the country is “condemned and unacceptable.” 
Iranian cities have seen unrest since late September, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody. The protests later developed into violent clashes between rioters and security forces, leading to the death of around 200 people, according Iranian sources. 
Tehran blames the West for provoking violence and orchestrating terrorist actions as part of a “hybrid war” to advance their political agenda. 
“As a UN member state, Iran was admitted to the Commission on the Status of Women in a completely transparent and legal election with the majority vote of member countries,” he said, adding that Iran won 43 out of 54 votes in the poll. 
The effort by the US and other European countries to remove Iran from the commission is, therefore, “a political and illegal measure,” according to the spokesman. 
The US has circulated a draft resolution on the move which is set to be voted on Dec. 14 by the 54-member UN Economic and Social Council.
Iran has just started a four-year term on the 45-member commission, which meets annually every March and aims to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The US-drafted resolution would “remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.”
More than being against the Islamic Republic, the move is against countries’ free vote in international organizations and structures, Kanaani said. 
This would, in a way, call into question independent states’ right to vote and the value of their opinion, since those countries voted for Iran’s membership in the international body freely and independently, he added. 
“If the US and some other western states manage to remove Iran from the commission as part of their pressure policy, they would in fact have set a [bad] precedent,” he said. 
“Iran will use all its political and diplomatic capacities to prevent such illegal ambition to be realized.”