Former Top Negotiator Warns West of Continued Pressures against Iran

Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani warned the western countries that its continued pressure on Tehran will undermine the West’s stance in the region, and called on the western states to hold serious negotiations with Iran, instead.

Speaking in a TV program on Friday evening, Rohani pointed to Iran’s options for confronting the western pressures, and said, “If the West comes to the conclusion that these sanctions are futile and observes that the Iranian nation can continue their political and economic activities, it will give up imposition of the pressures.”

“Continued pressure on Iran will cause a dilemma for the West in the region. The Iranian nation’s reaction will create problems for the West,” Rohani added.

He added that the West needs stability in the region, so disputes between Iran and West will be removed if the West realizes that real negotiations are far better than exerting pressure.

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West’s calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa on April 17, 2010 declaring that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (religiously prohibited).

“Iran is not after a nuclear bomb. Why would Iran want a nuclear bomb? Moreover, when an atomic bomb is detonated, it does not just kill enemies. Rather, it kills innocent people as well, and this goes against Islamic beliefs and the principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

An atomic bomb does not discriminate between good and bad people, and it is not something that the Islamic Republic would use. The Islamic Republic is relying on something that is not affected by bombs, foreign invasions and other such things. Such things only strengthen what the Islamic republic is relying on. The Islamic republic is relying on the people,” a part of the fatwa said.

Analysts believe that the fatwa of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution can well serve as a beacon of light for Washington in order to find its way out of darkness and ignorance.

The fatwa issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei forbidding the production, proliferation and use of nuclear bombs is to be considered a political milestone in Iranian history and one which can salvage the Islamic nation from the spate of external threats and plots.

Fatwa is a religious decree issued by a Muslim leader against a specific issue and it is incumbent upon all Muslims to abide by it. However, in this particular case, the issuance of the fatwa has not only religious but political force as well as the leader in the Islamic Republic is the prime decision-maker.

Meantime, the UN nuclear watchdog has also carried out frequent surprise inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites so far, but found nothing to support West’s allegations that Tehran pursues military purposes.

The Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog continues snap inspections of Iranian nuclear sites and has reported that all declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities.

Iran, an NPT-signatory, has also repeatedly called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, from across the globe.