Tehran, IRNA — Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will take part in an upcoming meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which will focus on the situation in Palestine, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei has said.
Araghchi is scheduled to travel to New York on January 20 to attend the meeting chaired by Algeria, said Baghaei in his weekly presser in Tehran on Monday.
The top diplomat is to participate in the forthcoming meeting of the UNSC that will be convened under the agenda of the Middle East, especially the latest developments in occupied Palestine, particularly Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza he added.
Baghaei also referred to an upcoming regional tour by President Masoud Pezeshkian that will take him to Tajikistan on the first leg and then Russia on the second leg.
This week's trip by the president to Tajikistan is very important, the spokesman said. He added that Tajikistan is a very important country in Central Asia, and Iran attaches importance to diplomatic relations with it.
Iran-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement
As to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between Tehran and Moscow, Baghaei said that the agreement is a revised version of the cooperation agreement the two countries signed 25 years ago.
Both sides still live up to the document, he said, noting that the agreement will meet the latest needs of the two sides given the newest global developments.
Caucuses security
The spokesman said that the security of the South Caucuses region is important for Iran. That is why the Islamic Republic uses every possible capacity to ensure that security is maintained and promoted in that region, he said, as he commented on a trip by Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Mehrabian to the Azerbaijan Republic and Armenia last week.
Relations with these two countries are important for Iran as well, said Baghaei.
France’s anti-Iran stance
On anti-Iran remarks recently made by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, the spokesman said it is better for Paris to save itself from confusion and pick a constructive approach towards developments in the West Asia region.
In his recent speech, Macron described Iran as the “main strategic and security challenge for France, Europeans, the entire region and beyond.”
Commenting on those remarks, Baghaei said that Iran has already reacted to the stances taken against it, adding that the allegations that are leveled against the Islamic Republic regarding its nuclear program are unfounded.
Those allegations have been in place for 20 years now, without having any legal basis, he added.
On France’s hosting a meeting by the anti-Iran terrorist group Mujahedine Khalq Organization (MKO) last week, Baghaei said that the French ambassador to Tehran was summoned over the move.
Hosting terrorist groups should be refrained as it is a legal commitment in the United Nations, the Iranian diplomat said, noting that dividing terrorism to bad or good will only prevail law-breaking practices in the world.
Talks with US
Baghaei said that Iran’s stance on talks with the United States remains unchanged. The stance is that the Islamic Republic has never left the negotiating table, and will make decisions based on Washington’s performance, he explained.
He said that talks are also taking place between Iran and Europe on a range of issues in Geneva today and tomorrow, which mainly focus on the removal of "cruel and illegal" sanctions that had been imposed on the Iranian nation.
We will never beg for negotiations as they are like “a two-sided road,” the spokesman noted.
Japan mediation between Iran, US
Asked about news of Japan’s mediation efforts between Iran and the US, Baghaei explained that the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which acts as America’s interest section in Iran, has always been the official channel for the exchange of messages between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Riyadh meeting on Syria
On the Sunday meeting held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which addressed the situation in Syria following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad’s government, Baghaei said that Iran supports every process that helps stabilize the situation in Syria and advocates for a secure and safe transition ensuring the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
No statement was issued at the Riyadh summit, which shows that participants failed to achieve any consensus, he noted.
Iranian national in Iraqi jail
As a responsibility, the Iranian Foreign Ministry makes every effort to defend the rights of the Iranian nationals abroad, the spokesman said.
He added that this is also true about Mohammad Reza Nouri, an Iranian national imprisoned in Iraq, whose case is on agenda of talks between Iranian and Iraqi officials.
US Justice Dept. statement
The spokesman described as “ridiculous” a statement by the US Justice Department, dated January 8, on trafficking nuclear materials by a Japanese Yakuza leader and involving Iran.
All the accusations that have been leveled against Iran over the past years are mainly Hollywood-like scenarios aimed at putting pressure on the Islamic Republic. Therefore, they are not worthy of any stance, he added.
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