Iran urges US to act constructively, drop its addiction to sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has urged the United States to drop its addiction to sanctions and adopt a constructive approach to restoring the US-abandoned Iran nuclear deal.

Nasser Kan’ani said during a Monday press conference that the United States does not seem to have the necessary political will for continuing the negotiations in Vienna to revive the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Imposing new sanctions on Iran shows that the US government" is not following a "constructive" approach, Kan’ani said. “It needs to abandon its addiction to sanctions and take on a constructive approach.”

Echoing Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s earlier remarks, Kan’ani said Tehran and Washington have exchanged more messages.

He also said Iran’s final draft, which has been already sent to the European side, was helpful in pushing the talks forward.

Washington unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 under former US president Donald Trump.

The talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in Vienna in April last year, months after Biden succeeded Trump, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing its anti-Iran sanctions.

Despite notable progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks.

Tehran, Washington exchanged more messages to bring views closer on JCPOA revival: Iranian FM

Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran and Washington have exchanged more messages to bring their views closer on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.

‘Abroad-based media factory of lies, promote murder’

Elsewhere in his remarks, Kan’ani criticized the role of Persian-language media based outside the country in recent waves of protests in Iran, calling the news outlets “a factory of lies” that promotes murder.

“Persian-language media based outside the country have turned into a factory of lies and a threatening command center that promotes murder, threatens to attack public properties and teaches how to make Molotov cocktail,” he said.

“Are these called media? They are command centers that provoke violence and what they do is not acceptable by any international standards and conventions,” he added.

He further explained that Iran has warned the countries hosting the media outlets and has taken some measures in this regard.

Over the past two weeks, Iran has sharply criticized the hostile environment created by the Persian language media based in other countries, particularly in London, in the wake of the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody.

Amini died at a Tehran hospital, three days after she collapsed at a police station while receiving training on the proper rules of wearing the Hijab in Tehran on September 16.

Security of Iran’s diplomatic missions

Violent protests have also targeted Iran’s diplomatic missions in other countries. On that, Kan’ani said all countries are bound by law to provide security for other countries’ diplomatic missions.

“Some of our missions have been targeted by the rioters, some of whom claim to be human rights activists,” he said. “Therefore, we have underscored the importance of ensuring the security of the embassies in phone calls and now the embassies have resumed their activities.”

Iran’s IRGC pounds bases of terrorists in northern Iraq with missiles, drones

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has targeted bases of terrorists in northern Iraq with precision missiles and combat drones.

Terrorist infiltration from Iraqi border unacceptable: Kan’ani

The Foreign Ministry spokesman also said Tehran has officially warned the Iraqi government against terrorists’ infiltration into the Iranian borders and the importance of clearing Iraq of the terrorists.

He made the remarks in response to a question about Iran’s recent strikes on bases of anti-Iran terrorists in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran respects Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity, but unfortunately terrorist groups have set up bases in neighboring countries across Iran’s borders, compromising the country’s security and resulting in civil and military casualties,” he added.

Iran is on good terms with the Iraqi government and has always said that terrorists’ infiltration from the Iraqi border should not happen, he concluded.

Since September 24, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has been launching several rounds of missile and drone strikes on positions of the terrorists holed up in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The IRGC said its attacks came after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials failed to adopt an appropriate measure and did not pay due attention to numerous warnings against the deployment and activity of mercenaries and terrorists’ hostility toward the Islamic Republic.

The terrorists in northern Iraq are reported to have been largely involved in a series of deadly riots in Iran by sneaking armed elements and cashes of weapons to support groups of thugs behind violence in Iranian cities.

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