Iran rejected US bid to negotiate regional role, missile capabilities

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen Net
23 Aug 2022 20:00

The deputy director of political affairs at the president's office, Muhammad Jamshidi, says in a statement that the US offered to negotiate the IRGC classification as a tool to push Iran to accept negotiations regarding its regional role and missile capabilities but Iran rejected.

The deputy director of political affairs at the president's office Muhammad Jamshidi

The deputy director of political affairs at the president's office, Muhammad Jamshidi, said, Tuesday, that "Removing the IRGC from the "US terrorism list" was an American proposal to the former Iranian government."

In response to US allegations published by Reuters entitled "Exclusive: Iran has dropped some demands for nuclear deal, U.S. official says," Jamshidi stressed that “adding this American proposal to remove the name of the Revolution Guards [IRGC] from the US list of terrorist organizations at the time, came to force Iran to accept negotiations on the issues pertaining to its regional role and missile capabilities."

Jamshidi explained that the US administration argued that "a return to the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 is not possible without entering into negotiations on Iran's regional role and its missile capabilities, and Ibrahim Raisi's team rejected this request."

The political aide to the Iranian presidency revealed that "once again, the US proposed removing the IRGC from the "terrorist list" in exchange for abandoning the idea of retaliation for the killing of Hajj Qassem Soleimani, but Iran refused."

۱. خارج کردن سپاه از لیست ترور (نه تحریم) پیشنهاد آمریکا به دولت قبل بود تا ایران را وادار به پذیرش مذاکرات منطقه ای و موشکی کند. آمریکا می‌گفت بدون مذاکره منطقه ای و موشکی، بازگشت به توافق ۲۰۱۵ نیز غیرممکن است. تیم آقای رئیسی این خواسته را رد کرد.
— Mohammad Jamshidi (@MhmmdJamshidi) August 23, 2022

Jamshidi added, "The United States then offered three other proposals to maintain the security of its forces in the region," and that in a similar manner "Iran rejected these offers."

In response to the US allegations about Iranian concessions in the ongoing nuclear negotiations in Vienna, the Iranian deputy asked that "in light of all this, who is the one who has given the other privileges?"

Marandi: American rhetoric "misleading"

Earlier, on Tuesday, the advisor to the Iranian delegation in the Vienna negotiations, Seyed Mohammad Marandi, said that what is being promoted through the Western media about the course of the ongoing negotiations to reach an agreement is "misleading", and that the Iranian nuclear program "will not be dismantled."

In a tweet via his personal account, Marandi responded to the Reuters article mentioned previously by arguing that the title is "very misleading," and that "I've said for MONTHS, removing the Guards from the FTO is not a precondition. No deal will be implemented before the IAEA Board of Directors PERMANENTLY closes the false accusations file."

Marandi further highlighted in the same tweet that "Iran's nuclear program will not be dismantled."