Iran, US continue trading messages via JCPOA coordinator: Spox

Tehran, May 9, IRNA – The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that talks between Iran and 4+1 continue without pause while the country has repeatedly stated that exchange of some messages between Tehran and Washington is continuously underway through Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) coordinator. Speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference on details about the future visit of European Union’s Iran nuclear talks coordinator Enrique Mora to Tehran, Saeed Khatibzadeh said Mora will have a meeting with Iran’s top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani. If the US decides this very day to give back what it has taken from Iranians’ pockets, an agreement can be reached after Mora’s visit, Khatibzadeh noted. What has happened in Vienna is because of Washington’s indecision, said the spokesman, adding that the US is not supposed to present a gift to Iran; it has to give back the rights of the Iranian nation. Iran and 4+1 have reached agreement on the text and the decision from the United States will easily bring about an agreement in Vienna, Khatibzadeh underlined. Turning to the Sunday visit of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to Tehran, the spokesman said that as Iran helped Syria defeat terrorism, it is quite natural for Damascus to refer to Iran for consultation. On the latest news about Tehran-Riyadh negotiations, the spokesman said that no new development has occurred in the two sides’ relations; meanwhile, if any new event happens, it will be released soon . In his remarks, Khatibzadeh referred to Qatar as one of Iran’s supporters in regional issues and announced that Qatari Emir will visit Tehran. Also, President Ebrahim Raisi is planned to fly to one of the Persian Gulf littoral states in coming weeks, he added. Elsewhere, the spokesman referred to Hamid Nouri’s case and its relation with the case of Ahmad Reza Jalali, who has been convicted in Iran on espionage charges, and said that the defeated Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) tries to politicize Nouri’s trial in Sweden That the Swedish Government lets MKO do so raises suspicion, Khatibzadeh stressed. Those two cases have no relations, he added. Further, he rejected competence of the Swedish court to consider Nouri's case and said basic rights of the Iranian national were not respected in Sweden. The Swedish Government should not think that the case of Jalali will be ignored by taking the case hostage; his case has been espionage and being followed up. In a related development, Secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi about a week ago called Sweden’s trial of ex-Iranian official – Hamid Nouri – “unlawful and unfair.” Touching upon the war in Ukraine, the spokesman said that the Islamic Republic of Iran makes its all-out efforts to secure immediate truce between Russia and Ukraine. Message of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian about the issue has been transferred to his Russian counterpart, the spokesman noted. Turning to the issue of joint water resources in the west and southwest of Iran with Turkey and Iraq and in the east of the country with Afghanistan, the spokesman said that none of regional countries could solely manage joint water resources. Also, about the process of releasing Iran’s frozen assets, Khatibzadeh said Iran does not wait for any third country when dealing with the issue of its blocked assets. Any asset release has been done “independently” so far and this process is being followed up, he added. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish