Leonid Slutsky

According to Slutsky, that was “a response to new US anti-Iranian sanctions and the EU’s inability to launch the promised financial mechanism to bypass them and compensate for losses from Washington’s policy to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero.”

“The United States is pursuing an obvious objective: to force Iran to abandon the nuclear deal altogether and therefore push Europeans towards restoring the anti-Iranian package of restrictive measures under US control. The White House hopes to achieve a regime change in Tehran by re-imposing the US and EU sanctions, strengthening Iran’s political isolation and whipping up tensions in the Persian Gulf region in general”, he stressed.

Slutsky is certain that Washington’s statements regarding its willingness to maintain a direct dialogue should not be taken seriously. “Unlike North Korea, Iran has neither nuclear weapons nor missiles capable of reaching US territory. So, the only direct dialogue with Tehran that Washington could foster is unconditional surrender [under the US scenario]”, he explained.

According to Slutsky, Iran has so far been pursuing a fairly cautious policy. “Exactly one year passed since the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA before the Islamic Republic announced it would scale down its commitments. Each such reduction is a response to new American sanctions”, he recalled, adding that progress at the talks between Tehran and European partners was still possible.

“Russia has always been committed to the implementation of the JCPOA by all parties. For our part, we will push ahead with efforts to preserve the Iran deal at various levels, including the parliamentary one, and draft a working mechanism to salvage it”, Slutsky concluded.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran would begin the third stage of scaling down its obligations under the nuclear accord on September 6. According to Rouhani, Tehran will abandon compliance with restrictions on nuclear research envisaged by the deal.

Tehran May Be Ready for Talks with Washington

Last month Rouhani said in remarks on state television that “The Islamic Republic of Iran is calling for talks. If the United States really wants to hold dialogue, it should first of all lift all sanctions.” The Iranian president has also slammed the US exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program as a “strategic mistake”.

For the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, White House National Security Advisor John Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked US President Donald Trump into ripping up the nuclear deal with Iran. “"Bolton & Netanyahu killed [the] Paris agreement signed between EU3 & Iran in 2005 by insisting on zero enrichment”, he tweeted, adding “Result? Iran increased its enrichment by 100 times by 2012.”

Meanwhile, today thousands joined the commemoration ceremony of the death of Ali Asghar, the great-grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Six-month-old (!) Ali Asghar was the youngest martyr of Battle of Karbala that happened on October 10 in 680 (almost 1350 years ago). Women were seen carrying their children dressed in white and green and chanting religious slogans. According to Head of the World Commemoration Assembly of Ali Asghar, Davoud Manafipour, over 6,250 similar commemoration ceremonies are expected to be held in Iran and 45 other countries around the world. ■