Prensa Latina & Deborah Danan / Breitbart – 2016-07-21 22:56:43
http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5081261&Itemid=1
Nuclear Deal Brings Iran Closer to the World, President Rouhani Says
Prensa Latina
TEHRAN (July 20, 2016) — President Hassan Rouhani said today that the nuclear deal with six world powers brought Iran closer to the world, while the leader of parliament, Ali Larijani, urged to outline plans to establish nuclear enrichment plans.
‘After the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (PACI), official name of the deal, Iran’s relations with other countries became closer in the scientific, cultural, social and economic areas’, Rouhani said after opening in Tehran the First World Conference of Mayors and Councilors.
Such conditions were established after the understanding signed on July 14, 2015 in Vienna with Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany), and has been positive for the Islamic Republic, despite obstacles by some of the signatories, he added.
‘We should use the post-PACI atmosphere and use the experiences of each other. Today, if we want to achieve an acceptable stability and tranquility in the world, we should be more patient and accept different cultures and opinions,’ Rouhani said during the two-day forum opened here today.
‘If we want to be devoid of terrorism, extremism and violence, and achieve sustainable peace throughout the world, we should respect the cultures of each, show more tolerance and bring lifestyles and cultures of different communities.’
Coinciding with the president’s speech, it was reported that Iran’s Research Institute of Petroleum Industry and the French Institute of Petroleum signed a cooperation agreement to develop the Yadavaran oilfield in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
The Conference of Mayors and Councilors will last two days in the presence of about 1,800 members of councils of Iranian cities and other parts of the world, including some from Germany, France, Australia, South Korea, Belgium, the United States, Britain, Italy and Switzerland, among others.
Iranian Speaker Says US Undermining Nuclear Deal
Radio Free Europe
(July 20, 2016) — Iran’s parliament speaker has accused US officials of failing to implement last year’s landmark nuclear deal and of pushing Tehran and Washington toward a “confrontation.”
Ali Larijani, a hard-liner who helped to gain parliamentary approval last year for the historic nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, said in parliament on July 20 that US government officials are putting obstacles in the way of Iran being readmitted into the world economy.
“With great sadness, [the Iranian] parliament warns the US administration, House of Representatives, and Senate that the efforts to undermine the nuclear agreement have reached a point that leaves no option for Iran but confrontation,” he said.
Larijani claimed that since the deal curbing Iran’s nuclear program was reached, the US Congress has passed 52 bills and sanctions related to Iran. He added that there are so many “harassment actions” that there is “no way but retaliation.”
Based on reporting by AFP, Trend News Agency, and IRNA
Iran: Confronting US Is Only Choice Left
Deborah Danan / Breitbart
TEL AVIV (July 21, 2016) — Confronting the US is the only choice Iran has left, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani warned Wednesday. The remarks came following legislation proposed by US opponents to the Iran deal to further sanction the Islamic Republic, and the UN’s first bi-annual report, which said that Iran was not following the “spirit” of the nuclear agreement signed last year by continuing ballistic missile tests.
“Majlis (Iranian Parliament), utterly regretting the UN chief’s move, is warning the US administration and its House of Representatives and Senate that injurious measures against the nuclear agreement have reached such a point that there is no way left for Iran but to counteract,” the Jerusalem Post, citing Iran’s Press TV, quotes Larijani as stating.
Regarding the UN report, Larijani said, “On the one hand, the Secretary General says in his report that Iran’s commitment is encouraging, and on the other, he makes no reference to Iran’s concerns and complaints about the non-implementation of all of the P5+1’s obligations.”
Larijani charged the Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon of a one-sided approach, asking, “Had the Secretary General been tasked with producing a report on both sides’ fulfillment of their obligations or is he the P5+1’s monitor in this?”
Larijani argued that testing ballistic missiles is not prohibited in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal itself. He further countered that the treaty makes no mention of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
According to Larijani, Iran was only instructed not to design ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. “Has Iran designed any such thing? Why would the UN chief then declare that the spirit of the JCPOA has been violated?” Press TV quoted Larijani as asking.
According to the report, Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi warned Wednesday that if the US-led JCPOA continues to disrespect the deal, Iran will resume uranium enrichment to a greater extent than it did before the treaty.
“We can go to better conditions compared with the past as quickly as possible,” Salehi was quoted as saying by Iran’s Fars News Agency. “Of course, this will happen if the other side violates the nuclear deal and this violation will be confirmed by the board (in Iran) which supervises (implementation of) the nuclear deal.” he added.
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