Iran can hold dialogue on oil & Gulf security, no cooperation on Israel issue: Zarif

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on January 22 stated that the country ‘will not cooperate on the issue of Israel’ but can hold dialogue on oil and security in the Gulf with the US, according to his statement published in Etmad newspaper on Saturday. Further, he added that Iran can cooperate on the regional security in the Persian Gulf to stabilize the region ushered by the structural imbalances post-Iran-Iraq war. Zarif, who has often accused the US of 'economic terrorism’ against Iran in the state-run press, said Friday that Iran awaits actions by the newly sworn-in president Joe Biden, who, earlier during his camping rally stated that Washington might return to full compliance with 2015 Iran nuclear deal Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) if Tehran abided by JCPOA terms post some follow-on negotiations. 

After Biden’s election as the President, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran had “always adhered to its commitments when all sides responsibly implemented their JCPOA obligations.” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, meanwhile, said in an online statement that Iran can quickly return to full implementation of JCPOA as it needs “no negotiations”, only if the United States returned to the negotiation table. The Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had also demanded earlier that the US must stop halting the sale of Iranian oil amid heightened tensions between the two nations. 

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Hints at dialogue for Iranian crude oil

“What we want is the US to stop preventing Iran from selling oil and other products, buying its needs and making and receiving payments,” Zarif wrote on Twitter. In an interview with  ABC 'This Week', Iran’s Zarif had warned the US of the “consequences” for continuing the economic pressure campaign against Iran. In his recent remarks, the Iranian foreign minister expressed willingness to hold dialogue related to US sanctions on Iranian crude oil in the state press, saying that Iran and the US must re-define their bilateral equation, adding that the nation will, however, not allow another country to interfere in its internal affairs. 

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(Image Credit: AP)