Tehran, Jan 20, IRNA – Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad-Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that Iran’s representative at the UN Majid Takht-Ravanchi has been in Tehran in the past three weeks and Le Figaro’s claim about him is not true.

Speaking to reports on the sidelines of the cabinet meeting, Zarif said that the Europeans are well-aware that the country that has in the past three years safeguarded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) through respecting national and international interests and keeping its commitments is Iran.

Saying that the Europeans were not successful even in a very small measure like INSTEX, Zarif said that they couldn’t finance INSTEX. Even the spokesman of the UN chief said on Tuesday that Iranian money has gotten stuck in South Korea and the UN has not been able to transfer it to New York to receive Iran’s membership fee.

He added that those who have turned the region to a gunpowder warehouse by selling weaponry are the US, Europe, and France; they cannot hide behind some claims.

Referring to the maximum pressure policy of the US, he said Iranian people defeated the US with their resistance and Iranian diplomacy about international community enjoys popular support.

It was last week that 110 countries voted in support of Iran and 10 in support of the US in the UN General Assembly, he said, the new US administration should learn a lesson from it.

If sanctions are removed and Europeans do their commitments, Iran will fully be committed to its own commitments, he said.  

Zarif said the US administration is not to pay ransom; it is just supposed to do its own commitments and Iran will not pay ransom to others to their commitments.

Regarding the fact that the Anthony Blinken has said that the US is after strong agreement with Iran, Zarif said that a strong agreement exists now, which was unanimously endorsed by the UNSC in which the US is a permanent member.

He also said that the timing was an important part of the negotiations with the G5+1 and it is impossible for Iran to renegotiate it, adding that the US should piy aside the idea that whatever is mine is mine, and whatever is yours in negotiable; even if it works on others, it won’t work on Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister said that it was clear that missiles and regional issues were not and would not be included in the JCPOA; that was why Iran accepted the weaponry embargo for five and the missiles restrictions for eight years, which was included in the UNSCR as well.

Zarif said if France or the US want to talk about weaponry they first need to stop selling 25% of the world weapons to the region.

He said that of course it is very unlikely that those who earn 100 billion dollars from selling weapons to the region will let go of it, adding that the weapons are used against people of Palestine and Yemen.

Saying that US people sent Trump’s administration to the ash heap of history, Zarif said to reach their goals, they did not even have mercy on the Congress – the center of democracy, as they put it.

Regarding the negotiations with the South Korea, he said that their propositions was not appropriate and Iran told them that the money is used for food and medicine, that Iranians are monitoring their moves, and that they have blocked Iranian money at US order, adding that the only side that will be hurt is South Koreans and their industries.

He said Iran has not attacked any country in the past 250 years, but if attacked, the Iranians will defend their honor.