Rafsanjani: Israel, some regional states sabotage against JCPOC

Tehran, August 19, IRNA – Israel and some regional countries leave no stone unturned to make Vienna nuclear agreement face defeat due to worries they feel, said Expediency Council (EC) Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Wednesday. Categorizing the pros and cons of Western countries' queuing up regarding the Iranian nuclear agreement, particularly the United States, Rafsanjani said in his Wednesday evening meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Reza Hakkan that the two countries' embassies in Tehran and Istanbul shoulder heavy responsibilities under the sensitive regional conditions. Further focusing on bilateral ties, the EC chairman said that quite obviously there are hands involved to disturb the two brotherly, Muslim and neighboring countries relations. Rafsanjani referred in particular to the attacks made against the Iranian trucks and the Iran-Turkey gas pipeline in Turkey, warning that they have reached an alarming level. 'That is while under such sensitive conditions some extremist media with ill intentions, too, incite the two nations' sensations,' he added. Ambassador Reza Hakkan Takin, too, initially praised Ayatollah Rafsanjani's personality as a religious scholar who is well informed of the international developments of the day and his name will remain alive for good. 'It is an honor for me, and any ambassador working in Tehran to have a meeting with Your Excellency,' he said. The diplomat, meanwhile, emphasized the need for Iran-Turkey cooperation to block the path for further expansion of insecurity in the region, despite differences of opinion and through constant consultations, arguing that otherwise the foreign powers' hands will be opened for interference in the region.