Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says Iran is ready to discuss the level of uranium enrichment and the size of its stockpile, provided that the rights of the Iranian nation are recognized and respected within the framework of international treaties.
Tehran – IranView24
In an interview with America’s PBS News on Tuesday, Baqaei addressed a number of issues, including the diplomatic path with the United States following the resumption of nuclear and sanctions-removal talks in Oman.
He emphasized that the negotiations would focus on the nuclear issue, stressing that “what we want is based on an established rule of international law,” as Iran, a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), produces nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Rejecting decades of hype created by the Israeli regime around Iran’s nuclear program, Baqaei said Tehran had repeatedly stated that nuclear weapons have no place in its defense doctrine.
“That’s a big lie,” he said, referring to Israeli claims that Iran was on the verge of producing nuclear weapons, adding that enrichment is part of the country’s peaceful nuclear program.
The spokesperson told the American reporter that Iran, as it has said many times, is ready to discuss the level of enrichment, but stressed that “our right, which is recognized under an international treaty, should be respected.”
Responding to a question about US military threats and the change in Washington’s tone after indirect talks with Tehran in Muscat, he said, “The Islamic Republic has been facing such unlawful, unwarranted, unjustified threats over the past five decades.”
“We have always lived with these looming threats,” Baqaei added. “But we have been courageous; our people have been courageous, because they know this is not just.”
“No one wants war,” he said, referring to years-old rhetoric and military threats. He emphasized that Iran is a nation that chose to be free and pursue the right to self-determination following the overthrow of the authoritarian Pahlavi regime in 1979.
Referring to the Iran-US talks, he said a compromise is possible if there are result-oriented negotiations, despite distrust in Iran due to unlawful US attacks on its nuclear facilities last year.
On the recent foreign-backed unrest amid tensions with the United States, Baqaei said evidence on the ground clearly showed that Israeli Mossad-affiliated agents were hijacking peaceful protests and using weapons to kill civilians and security forces.
