Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the country has preserved its share of energy market despite sanctions, but it could contribute to solving Europe’s energy crisis if a deal is reached.
Speaking in his weekly press conference, Nasser Kanaani said that full removal of sanctions on the Iranian nation and government was among Iran’s fundamental goals.
Noting that the United States responded to Iran’s response to the draft proposed by the EU coordinator with delay, Kanaani said that Iran had made its contribution to the talks to revive the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and was waiting for the US response.
Likening the efforts made to reach an agreement on reviving the JCPOA to a marathon, the spokesman said that Iran took responsible steps and conveyed its views to the European side in order to protect Iran’s interest with a happy ending for the process.
If the opposite side has the political determination and acts constructively and progressively, Kanaani said, a deal is available provided that Iran’s response was reasonable and constructive.
On the Europeans’ demanding Iran to help solve the energy crisis, Kanaani said that Iran is an important supplier of energy and has preserved its share of the market despite the sanctions.
However, the spokesman added, Iran could be a potential supplier for the European counties to meet their energy demands if a deal is reached in Vienna.
He noted that the Foreign Ministry’s main mission was to ensure receiving guarantees in the talks because any possible deal could be violated if there were no guarantees as happened when the US exited the JCPOA in 2018 while Iran remained compliant with the deal.
The spokesman also complained about the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA)’s political behavior, noting that keeping the nuclear watchdog far from politics was an important aspect of the guarantee.
He also emphasized that closing Iran’s cases related to the safeguards issues in the IAEA was a major demand of Iran.
On the reports by the Israeli media on the Zionist regime’s alleged attacks on Iran-controlled sites and locations in Syria, the spokesman dismissed such claims as unfounded, underlining that Iran condemned all Israeli measures against Syrian infrastructure as illegal, illegitimate, aggressive, and a violation of international law.
Kanaani gave a positive assessment of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian’s recent trip to Moscow carrying the EU’s message to Russia.
