Pezeshkian: World has come to believe Iran seeks peace, security

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says the international community has come to believe that the Islamic Republic seeks peace and security in the world, stressing that Iran’s nuclear program is fully peaceful. 

In a meeting with director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi in Tehran on Thursday, Pezeshkian stressed that Iran’s nuclear efforts are fully in line with the frameworks and legal authorizations of the IAEA.

“Today, the world has come to believe that Islamic Iran is seeking peace and security in the world,” he said.

“As we have repeatedly demonstrated our goodwill in the past, we express our readiness to cooperate and align with this international body to resolve any ambiguities and allegations concerning the peaceful nature of our nuclear activities,” he added. 

His comments came just a day after European powers were reported to be pushing for a new anti-Iran resolution at the IAEA’s Board of Governors meeting next week to pile up pressure on Tehran.

The president stressed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, citing Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s religious decree which prohibits the building of nuclear weapons.

“According to the clear fatwa of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, we have never sought and will never seek to build nuclear weapons, and no one will be allowed to deviate from his policy,” he said.

Pezeshkian also said Iran does not seek war, but will strongly respond to any aggression.

“We believe that war is neither in our interest, nor in the interest of the region, nor in the interest of the world. No sane person seeks to start a war and develop it, but we will definitely react decisively against any action against our security.”

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Iran

Grossi, for his part, praised Pezeshkian’s peace-oriented and consensus-driven approach during this meeting, expressing gratitude for the diligent cooperation of the officials of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the IAEA.

The UN nuclear agency’s chief then provided an overview of the positive relations and interactions between Iran and the agency.

“We deeply believe that your presidency will mark a new chapter in the positive and good relations between Iran and the IAEA,” Grossi told Pezeshkian.

“Certainly, good interaction and cooperation between Iran and the agency will neutralize any schemes against Iran’s nuclear activities,” Grossi stressed.

In 2015, Iran proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the JCPOA with six world powers. However, Washington’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.

In 2019, Iran started to roll back the limits it had accepted under the JCPOA after the other parties failed to live up to their commitments.

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