Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on August 27 called on the remaining signatories to its 2015 nuclear agreement to act to save the pact.
In a phone call to French President Emmanuel Macron, Rouhani said Iran wanted the Europeans to give guarantees on banking channels and oil sales as well as in the field of insurance and transportation.
“Iran has acted upon all its promises in the nuclear agreement and, with attention to the one-sided withdrawal of America … expects the remaining partners to operate their programs more quickly and transparently,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by the state-run Iranian news agency IRNA.
As reported by the Reuters news agency, Rouhani was speaking in the light of US sanctions re-imposed by Washington after President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May.
On August 27, Macron reiterated France’s commitment to maintaining the accord, a remark aimed at soothing Tehran. However, he also repeated his earlier calls for broader discussions with all relevant parties that would include Iran’s nuclear program after 2025, its ballistics programme and its influence in the wider Middle East region.
“We will do everything so that the talks help avoid a serious crisis in the months ahead,” Macron said in an annual speech to French ambassadors in Paris.
Control of the Gulf
In other related news, the Tasnim news agency quoted the head of the navy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, General Alireza Tangsiri, as saying on August 27 that his country had full control of the Gulf and the US Navy did not belong there.
“We can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the US and the countries whose home is not in here,” he said in the quote, which appeared in English translation on Tasnim.
He added, “All the carriers and military and non-military ships will be controlled and there is full supervision over the Persian Gulf. Our presence in the region is physical and constant and night and day.”
The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said on August 27 that Iran’s enemies would not prevail in a conflict. “The enemies are strictly avoiding any conflict with Iran because they know that it will not be beneficial for them,” Jafari said, according to Tasnim.
According to Reuters, as tension has escalated between Iran and the United States, senior US officials have said they aim to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.
