Iran can walk from nuclear talks if hostile rhetoric persists

Press TV has conducted an interview with Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, to discuss the remarks made by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei about the ongoing nuclear negotiations between Iran and the global powers.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Please elaborate on the recent comments made by Ayatollah Khamenei.

Izadi: I think he was highlighting a fact that we have in international law which is threatening another country is illegal. UN Charter Chapter 1 Article 2 specifically says that not only use of force against another country is illegal; the sentence reads threat or use of force, which means that countries are not supposed to threaten each other with military action.

So whenever you hear the idea of all options on the table or the idea of the US attacking Iran, whether it is said by [US Secretary of State John] Kerry or [US President Barack] Obama or [the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin] Dempsey or someone else, they are basically violating international law and what Ayatollah Khamenei is saying is that with this rhetoric, reaching an agreement with the other side would be difficult and maybe impossible.

And a lot of people in Iran actually are wondering why while two sides are negotiating and while two sides are saying that they are progressing, there are no major problems in the negotiations, they had an agreement in Geneva about one and a half years ago, they had another agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland a few weeks ago, and they are continuing their negotiations and there are no serious problems, why is it, a lot of people are asking in Iran, why is it that the American officials cannot stop this idea of threatening Iran? They cannot basically change the rhetoric against Iran and there is no good reason for that, a lot of people are wondering about that.

So I think that is one issue but the other issue is the idea of the other side thinking that Iran is desperately in need of an agreement. This is another point that Ayatollah Khamenei was referring to and the idea that he was expressing is that the other side is also in need of agreement, maybe more than Iran is.

Iran will be able to continue to live under sanctions, Iran is used to sanctions, Iran has been sanctioned for the last 36 years and Iran would go back to its enrichment program full-force without any limitations under Non-Proliferation Treaty.   

It is the other side that needs to get an agreement with Iran, otherwise whatever they are planning for Iran is not going to work out.

So I think this is also very important to remind the other side - this is what Ayatollah Khamenei was doing - remind the other side that Iran is ready and able to walk away from the negotiating table as long as the rhetoric of the other side continues to be destructive.

AHK/HMV

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