‘Iran wants to rebuild relations with US, EU’ – Rouhani
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani has for the first time openly acknowledged the Islamic Republic’s plans to mend relations with the US and other Western powers.
“We want to rebuild and improve our relations to European and
North American countries on a basis of mutual respect,”
Rouhani wrote in an editorial published by Germany’s Sueddeutsche
Zeitung newspaper.
“We are striving to avoid new burdens on relations between
Iran and the United States and also to remove the tensions that
we have inherited,” he added.
Rouhani has declared a course of engagement with the West and
finding compromise on the controversial Iranian nuclear program
after claiming a confident win the presidential election this
July.
This September he has held a historic telephone conversation with
his US counterpart, Barack Obama, which saw the presidents of the
two nations speaking to each other for the first time in more
than three decades.
But Iranian officials later stressed that the call had nothing to
do with the revival of diplomatic relations with Washington,
which were severed after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, and
was only dedicated to nuclear talks.
Rouhani emphasized that Iran can’t forget about what happened
between Tehran and Washington in the past, but urged both sides
to “concentrate on the present and orientate towards the
future.”
In his article, the Iranian president touched upon the nuclear
issue, saying that the Western concerns about Tehran developing
an atomic bomb have been groundless.
“We have never even considered the option of acquiring nuclear
weapons,” he wrote. “We'll never give up our right to
profit from nuclear energy. But we are working towards removing
all doubts and answer all reasonable questions about our
program.”
Iran has made significant progress in nuclear talks with P5+1
(Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus
Germany) under Rouhani.
Under the November 24 accord, Tehran agreed to stop uranium
enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 per cent in exchange
for limited easing of sanctions, including trade in
petrochemicals and gold.
The new round of negotiations between the sides has been
rescheduled until after the Christmas holidays, Reuters reports.
On Sunday, Rouhani met with Italian Foreign Minister, Emma
Bonino, in Tehran, showing his commitment to strengthen European
ties.
“Italy has played the role of an important partner of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, and has so far acted as the gateway to
Iran’s interaction with Europe,” the Iranian president is
cited as saying by Tasnim news agency.
Rouhani has urged the two countries to “pursue the bilateral
relations based on durable and long term goals for joint
cooperation at all levels.”
