No country can create insecurity and expect no answer: Iran’s Rouhani

Rouhani made the remarks in a joint press conference with the visiting Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan in Tehran on Sunday, after the two sides held detailed discussions on various issues of mutual interest.

“If a country thinks they can create insecurity in the region without getting an answer, they are totally mistaken,” Iran’s president said.

He pointed to his discussions with Khan about regional developments and said, “The Middle East, particularly the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, constitute a very critical region in the world. Therefore, during our negotiations, we held talks about the establishment of regional stability and sustainable peace.”

Rouhani said he had voiced Iran’s concern about security in the Persian Gulf, specifically a missile attack on an Iranian vessel off the Saudi coast during his talks with Pakistan’s premier.

“In the talks, we expressed our concerns about security of oil tankers, especially an what happened on Friday to an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea,” Rouhani said, adding that he gave clues about the incident to the Pakistani prime minister and that investigations would continue to find the main perpetrators behind the attack.

On Friday, the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) reported that the SABITI tanker had been hit by two separate explosions near the Saudi port city of Jeddah. The blasts caused an oil spill that was stopped shortly after.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said on Saturday that Iran would not let attacks on its vessels go unanswered.

Official: Iran will respond to ‘banditry’ in intl. watersAn official says Iran will not let attacks on its vessels go unanswered after an Iranian oil tanker is hit by suspicious explosions in the Red Sea.

“Piracy and banditry in international waterways, which is done with the aim of making commercial shipping insecure, will not go unanswered,” the top Iranian security official stated.

Tensions have been high in the region after a series of suspicious explosions targeted oil tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year.

Iran’s Government spokesman Ali Rabiei on Saturday described the attack on SABITI as “cowardly,” saying the Islamic Republic will respond after the facts have been probed.

“Iran is avoiding haste, carefully examining what has happened and probing facts,” Rabiei said, adding, “An appropriate response will be given to the designers of this cowardly attack, but we will wait until all aspects of the plot are clarified.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said both Tehran and Islamabad believe regional issues should be solved through political approaches and dialog among countries, adding that cruel sanctions imposed by the United States against the Iranian people are an example of “economic terrorism.”

Rouhani said he and Khan discussed ways of getting Iran’s landmark nuclear deal with the world powers in 2015 back on the right track. The deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was clinched by Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

“We also placed emphasis on the key and leading point that the United States must return to the JCPOA and lift sanctions [it has re-imposed on Iran] to settle [the existing] issues,” the Iranian president said.

US President Donald Trump is a stern critic of the nuclear accord, which was clinched by Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. Under the agreement, nuclear-related sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the deal in May 2018 and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism in a bid to strangle Iranian oil trade.

In response to the White House, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments three times in compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from the US sanctions.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced on October 6 that Tehran will continue to further scale back its commitments under the nuclear deal if the other signatories fail to keep their side of the bargain.

‘Iran mulls more steps to slash JCPOA commitments’Tehran says it will reverse the decision if the other parties take action to save the nuclear deal.

The AEOI’s deputy head for international, parliamentary and legal affairs, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said the Islamic Republic stands ready to return to the full implementation of its commitments under the JCPOA if the other parties live up to their obligations. “Otherwise, the reduction of the commitments will continue.”

We don’t want new conflict in the region: Khan

The Pakistani prime minister, who is in Tehran to try to defuse rising tensions in the Persian Gulf, said the main reason for his trip is that his country does not “want a new conflict in this region.”

Pakistan has been suffering from these conflicts over the past 15 years and 70,000 people have lost their lives in the fight against terrorism, Khan said, adding that the Afghan and Syrian people are still suffering from terrorism.

He noted that at a meeting held on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump had asked him to act as a “facilitator” between Iran and the United States.

There are difficulties on this path, but Islamabad would do its utmost to help lift sanctions against Iran and implement the Iran nuclear deal by all its signatories, he said.

This is Khan’s second visit this year to Iran after he made his first-ever official visit to Tehran in April and held talks with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian officials, including President Rouhani.

Ahead of the Pakistani prime minister’s planned visit, the spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that the country is prepared to hold talks with Saudi Arabia, with or without mediation.

‘Iran ready for Saudi talks, with or without mediation’Iran says the country is prepared to hold talks with Saudi Arabia, with or without a mediator.

“The Islamic Republic has announced that it is always ready, with or without a mediator, to hold talks with its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, so that if there is any misunderstanding, it could be cleared,” Abbas Mousavi said.

Rouhani: Tension in the region only benefits Zionist regime

Earlier on Sunday, Rouhani told Khan during their meeting that any tension or conflict in the region would only play into the hands of the Zionist regime.

“The settlement of regional crises, instead of inviting extra-regional powers and regimes that benefit from tension and war in the region, requires a shift in strategy toward political dialog mixed with goodwill, creation of security and the expansion of regional relations,” the Iranian president stated.

“We believe that relying on terrorists, Zionists and the US will have no outcome for Muslim countries and regional nations but tension and damage, and the only way to [establish] sustainable stability, security and development in the region is through intraregional dialog and cooperation,” he added.

Iran’s president said security should be developed only by the regional countries, warning that foreign interference would make things worse.

“The first step to ease tension in the region is [the establishment of] ceasefire in Yemen and the end of attacks against the country’s oppressed people; and Iran welcomes any move to that end,” Rouhani said.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the US, launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Resistance by Yemen’s armed forces, led by Ansarullah, has pushed the Saudi war to a stalemate, with Yemeni forces conducting increasingly sophisticated retaliatory attacks against the Saudis.

Observers warn that a Saudi-US escalation could trigger a wider war that could spill over from Yemen into the region in case peace initiatives continue to be ignored by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

The Iranian president also said the Islamic Republic’s definite policy is based on maintaining peace and stability in the Persian Gulf and providing shipping security in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Lasting security and peace in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz will only be established through cooperation among regional countries,” Rouhani stated.