Unilateral, illegal sanctions no solution to N-issue

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi says unilateral sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic cannot resolve the issue of Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

“Lifting sanctions can be part of a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue but imposing sanctions is not a solution,” Araqchi said Monday in reaction to the recent US move to lift a ban on the sales of communications equipment to Iranians.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Using the false allegation as a pretext, Washington and the European Union have imposed illegal and unilateral sanctions against Tehran despite Iran’s rejection of their allegation.

“Unilateral sanctions are unlawful and outdated and experience has shown that it (imposing sanctions) will not only fail to solve problems but it will also complicate the issue,” Araqchi added.

Regarding certain foreign remarks about Iran’s upcoming presidential vote, he said the Islamic Republic would take necessary measures regarding politically-motivated claims about the election as well as those claims that are instances of interference in the country’s domestic affairs.

He advised those foreign officials opinionating about Iran’s elections to avoid making such “biased claims” by learning about Iran’s electoral mechanism and Constitution.

On May 21, US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell criticized Iran’s Guardian Council over the vetting process that disapproved hundreds of presidential hopefuls.

The following day, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot also made allegations against Iran’s electoral process, criticizing the Guardian Council’s vetting process and saying that the Iranian people should be allowed to “freely choose” their leaders.

The allegations came after Iranian Interior Ministry published a list of eight candidates that the Guardian Council had approved to run in the country’s 11th presidential election. A total of 686 hopefuls had registered for the poll.

Iranians will go to the polls on June 14 to elect the country’s 11th president.