Rezaei to Press TV: I won’t wait for deal in Vienna, will instead activate natl. economy

Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei says Iran will not wait for any agreement in the talks on Vienna, Austria, on a potential revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, pledging that he will work instead to keep the country moving forward by activating its national economy, if he wins the June 18 election.

In an exclusive interview with Iran’s English-language Press TV and Arabic-language Al-Alam news networks, Rezaei presented his views on a series of foreign policy issues ranging from the fate of the 2015 nuclear deal to ties with neighbors.

The secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council was asked about the policy that his potential administration would follow if the talks underway between Iran and the five co-signatories to the nuclear deal — France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China — fail to keep the nuclear deal alive, over three years after the US abandoned it in defiance of UN Security Council 2231.

Rezaei said the Iran deal, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was “an international commitment” and that his administration would “stick to the country’s international commitments.”

What matters is that the Americans, who infringed upon their international obligations by withdrawing from the Iran deal, “should be compelled to make good on their commitments.”

“Although we will have the right diplomacy ahead of us, we will not be waiting for any agreement in Vienna.”

“By activating our national economy, we will try to be independent of having to have relations with the Americans…so that they would feel the more they waste time, the more they will lose,” said Rezaei. “We’ll start [boosting] our national production, and they are the ones who’d be following us.”

After withdrawing from the JCPOA, the US under ex-President Donald Trump imposed a set of tough economic sanctions on Iran, prompting the Islamic Republic to resort to its legal rights under Article 26 of the agreement a year later and suspend parts of its commitments in response.

The new US administration has said it wants to return to the deal, but it has so far refused to meet Iran’s demand for a practical and verifiable removal of its sanctions before returning.

The Vienna talks are aimed at resolving the dispute.

Araghchi to Press TV: We still not confident a conclusion possible for Vienna talks

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he is still not confident a conclusion would be possible for talks on the revival of a 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

On Iran-US ties

Rezaei said the Americans should know that Iran “will never go back to the unilateral, one-sided ties with the United States,” which existed prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“Our administration will welcome any relations that provide for national interests in practice, not on paper,” said Rezaei. “It’s [thus] in their interest to stop animosity. Antagonism will get nowhere.”

 Rezaei sees neighbors as a priority

Elsewhere, Rezaei said ties with neighbors would top his foreign policy agenda, if he is elected president.

“I take good neighborly ties seriously. There are certain challenges and differences of opinion in ties with some neighbors. I will try to calm things down,” apparently referring to the tension in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, among other Persian Gulf kingdoms.

“There are some differences of opinion. We need to look into them and resolve them. Our administration will be the frontrunner to resolve those issues,” something that will depend on the stance of those countries and their willingness for improved ties with the Islamic Republic, Rezaei said.

‘Resistance axis saved Europe, US from terrorism’

He also emphasized the importance of the resistance axis in the region and said, “Had it not been for the axis of resistance, Iraq and Syria would have now been run by Daesh.”

Besides supporting the Palestinian cause against Israeli occupation, the resistance front acts against terror and insecurity, said Rezaei.

Rezaei added, “It is in the interest of Europe and the US to back the axis of resistance. They should not have unilateral relations with Israel,” suggesting them to negotiate with the resistance front, which, he said, prevented terrorism from spreading to the entire world by defeating Daesh in the Middle East.

‘Normalization with Israel amounts to political suicide’

Rezaei also delivered a warning to the Arab regimes which recently normalized their ties with the Israeli regime, saying they made “a mistake,” committed “political suicide,” and “stabbed themselves.”

He urged them to reverse the decisions and “compensate for their mistake” before the occupying regime infiltrates into all layers of their country and administration.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk