Iran will not negotiate under ‘pressure and threats’: FM spokesman

Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Nasser Kan’ani said American officials know that Iran is not ready to negotiate under pressure and threats.

He said Iran’s stance on the talks is “completely clear” and that Tehran is committed to the diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement.

The spokesman noted that reaching an agreement would serve the interests of Iran, the US and European parties to the deal, urging the European countries not to surrender to Washington and its imposed conditions.

He also said Iran had fulfilled its obligations under the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and it was the US that violated the agreement.

The European parties to the deal also did not fulfill their commitments and could not compensate the US unilateral withdrawal from the deal, he added.

Asked about a draft resolution aimed to expel Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Kan’ani said, “Any misuse of the internal developments in Iran to exert political pressure on our country is condemned and unacceptable.”

Riots broke out in Iran in mid-September after the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old woman fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later in hospital.

An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization concluded that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.

Rioters went on the rampage across the country, brutally attacking security officers and causing massive damage to public property as Western powers, especially the United States, provided support.

The European Union and some western countries have imposed sanctions on Iran over its approach toward the riots.

The Iranian spokesman also said that the US and certain European countries are behind that “political and illegal” draft resolution and that they are seeking to exert pressure on independent countries to pass it.

He said the US move is “an action against the free vote of countries in international organizations and structures.”

“There are member countries of the UN Security Council or the Human Rights Council and human rights assemblies that committed countless crimes against governments and independent nations throughout their history, and now use human rights tools to exert pressure,” he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Kan’ani said the Saudi-funded Iran International TV channel plays a role in fomenting chaos in Iran, noting that Iran has taken legal actions against it.

He also condemned the misuse of the internal developments in Iran by some foreign parties that pursue their political interests.