Iran Ready for all Nuclear Deal Scenarios, Says Araqchi

Iran is prepared for all possible scenarios regarding the nuclear agreement, said the deputy foreign minister of Iran in the Second Tehran Security Conference on Monday.

‘In case the JCPOA [in full: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] is cancelled, the region will suffer the most,’ said Abbas Araqchi at the panel on security in West Asia.

Araqchi said that the JCPOA was a successful experience adding that it is, de facto, the only experience of peaceful solving of a 10-year crisis in the contemporary time through negotiations.

 The biggest lesson of the JCPOA is that ‘we should still have hope in diplomatic solutions for big problems,’ said Araqchi. ‘Issues like Daesh and countering the occupiers cannot be solved through negotiation.’

Araqchi also said that the JCPOA should be a pattern for win-win talks; the US should be committed to it because killing the deal will not create a better region for the people.

‘The US tried to destroy the JCPOA in the past year and may destroy it in the coming days; the world should be ready for that.’

‘If the Europeans are interested in keeping the JCPOA, they should take some special steps to encourage the European companies and banks to cooperate with Iran,’ Araqchi added.

FM spokesman praises Iran, China old relations

In another development, Foreign Ministry spokesman BahramQasemi said here on Monday that Iran and China enjoy old relations, stressing that China is one of the important economic partners of Iran.

 Speaking in his weekly press briefing, Qasemi added that Iran attaches great importance to expansion of all-out ties with China.

China has traditionally been Iran’s biggest trade partner, he said.

Bilateral trade grew by 31% during the first half of 2017 compared with last year’s corresponding period to reach $18 billion, Iran-China Chamber of Commerce cited data from Chinese customs department.

According to the report, China’s exports to Iran saw a 23% year-on-year increase during the period, rising from $7.2 billion to $8.8 billion.

To a question about certain difficulties in bilateral trade ties and whether the government of China has introduced restictions in investment in Iran, the spokesman said there might be some problems between the two sides companies which should not be generalized to the relations between the governments of the two countries.

IRNA

R.S