Amir Abdollahian’s speech on last day of Conference of the Heads of Iranian Diplomatic Missions in Neighboring Countries

On the last day of the Conference of the Heads of Iranian Diplomatic Missions in Neighboring Countries” attended by the foreign minister and the ministry’s deputies, Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir Abdollahian gave a summary of the gathering and feedbacks.

On the last day of the Conference of the Heads of Iranian Diplomatic Missions in Neighboring Countries” attended by the foreign minister and the ministry’s deputies, Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir Abdollahian gave a summary of the gathering and feedbacks.
Amir Abdollahian underlined the importance of the meetings held during the conference. He said that given the presence of a half of cabinet members throughout the week in the gathering, relevant government organizations have already started sessions to review problems and approaches proposed by the heads of the diplomatic missions and that some working groups have been formed to that end.
The foreign minister said the first test of the diplomatic missions outside Iran was the import of Covid vaccine at the beginning of the 13th government’s tenure. Amir Abdollahian said fortunately, thanks to follow-up and huge efforts by Iran, more than 80 percent of the Iranian people have been vaccinated. He added that in addition to countries such as China, which accounted for the largest share of imported vaccines, and Cuba, which cooperated with Iran in transferring technology for joint production, vaccines were imported from many other countries, so that now the warehouses of the Health Ministry and the Red Crescent Society do not have more capacity for new imported jabs.
Amir Abdollahian described starting to move toward helping provide the living necessities and needs of the society so that the positive impact on the livelihoods and tables of people is clear, as the second mission assigned by the government to the Foreign Ministry. He said in this sector, the jihadi movement of the Foreign Ministry inside Iran and at diplomatic missions abroad has already started.
The foreign minister further noted that the 13th government's strategic development plan for the country is independent of the outcome of negotiations with other governments, and that Iran’s embassies and consulates abroad will use all their power and capacity in this regard. Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir Abdollahian addressed the ongoing talks in Vienna between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P4+1 group of countries. He said honorable talks have been on the agenda since the beginning of the government and the same approach is still being pursued thanks to the seriousness and hard work of the negotiating team.
The foreign minister spoke of the interaction between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency and said the agency has at times used technical tools to exert political influence over the Vienna talks. He added, “Last night, we reached a good agreement with the IAEA that could dispel some of the alleged concerns about Iran's peaceful nuclear program and lead to continued mutual cooperation with the agency”.
Amir Abdollahian described as a sheer lie some of the allegations made about the existence of demands beyond the JCPOA in the draft documents proposed by Iran’s negotiating team. He emphasized that these drafts are completely based on the JCPOA and they contain nothing beyond the deal. The foreign minister however said these documents are the result of tens of hours of discussions in the government. Amir Abdollahian said Iran’s approach is the complete lifting of the JCPOA-related sanctions in return for dispelling the other parties' alleged concerns about Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
The top diplomat of Iran added that the two texts are currently being discussed in Vienna. Amri Abdollahian said the first text is the result of the first 6 rounds of negotiations and, at the same time, the opposing sides have agreed that the new drafts proposed by Iran should also remain on the table in order for all parties to come up with a single text following discussions and combination of all of them. Ultimately, Amir Abdollahian said, this process should lead to the return of the other parties to their obligations.

In the end, the foreign minister said he hopes that the other sides will continue their efforts in good faith and with a view to resolving the issue. He underlined, "We are optimistic that if the other side acts realistically, we can achieve progress in this round of negotiations.”