Iran envoy tells Euronews EU able to stand up to US

Tehran, May 21, IRNA – Iran's Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union Gholam-Hossein Dehghani said that the European Union can stand up to the US posing threat to the international law and the world peace and security. Dehghani told Euronews that Iran does not want the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to be destroyed. He hoped that the United Nations Security Council will not extend Iran’s weapons embargo under US pressure. The JCPOA envisaged an end to the arms embargo on Iran in October 2020. The EU is not only a member but also the coordinator of the deal, so it has a prominent stance in the context of the JCPOA. He added that Iran still thinks that the EU can stand against the US lawlessness that is a threat to the international law and the world peace and security. He said that the JCPOA has some benefits for Iran if fully observed by the parties to the deal. As Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif has already said the US has left the deal so it is not a party to the JCPOA. Iran is a partner with the other signatories of the deal. Answering a question about the upcoming US elections, he said Iran does not arrange its policies with regards to foreign countries domestic issues, especially the US. But regarding the JCPOA, Joe Boden has said that he will bring the US back to the deal, and Iran does not want it to be destroyed. He added that if the US wants to rejoin the deal, the first thing they should do is to remove the sanctions and what the US was supposed to. And now they should compensate for the damage the US inflicted on Iranian economy. Iran has suffered a lot from the US illegal action. They both left the deal and pressured others to follow suit. In response to Euronews’ question about Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s recent tweet about peace of Imam Hassan and that if it means Iran is considering negotiations with the US, Dehghani said how can one negotiate with a country whose secretary of state says they will starve Iran until they come to their knees? Just look at the US literature, he said, adding no independent country negotiates under such circumstances. Regarding Iran’s sending oil tankers to Venezuela, he said neither Iran nor Venezuela is under UN sanctions. They are both under unilateral sanctions of the US. They are free to have trade. About if the Iranian tankers are threatened by the US, what Iran will do, he said, ““We are hopeful that nothing would happen there.” “It’s completely out of any expectation that conflict would be started by Iran there, by an oil tanker.” “But, as I said, if they resort to any military action Iran has shown that always its response is proportional.”