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Iran says ready to help transit of eight landlocked countries
Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development Rostam Qassemi said on Monday that his country stands ready to help meet the transit needs of eight landlocked counties of the region.
Qassemi made the remarks addressing a Ministerial Transport Conference of Landlocked Developing Countries in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
He expressed hope that the conference would help the fulfillment of the developmental goals of the landlocked countries.
The minister stressed that Iran’s economic diplomacy is focused on further deepening of relations with developing countries and the neighboring ones.
Many regional and international transit corridors make use of Iran’s transit routes, Qassemi noted.
Iran's maritime routes in the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman, Indian Sea, and Caspian Sea play a key role in the transit of goods from and to the landlocked countries of the region, the minister added.
He said that Iran’s approach to the regional and international transit cooperation is to avoid any kind of rivalry.
One-fourth of the total 32 landlocked developing countries of the world, which is comprised of eight countries of Armenia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, have close bilateral and multilateral transit cooperation with Iran, the minister said, adding that Iran has shouldered part of the commitments of the international community to reduce the vulnerability of the landlocked countries by helping reduce their trade costs and accelerating an easier access for them to the global markets.
He said that Iran is doing its share while it has been grappling with COVID-19 since 2020 and it is also subject to unilateral sanctions by the United States.
Iran to establish 7 new trade centers in Africa by Mar. 2023
TEHRAN – Aiming to develop trade with Africa, Iran is planning to open seven new trade centers in countries of the continent by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2023), IRNA reported on Tuesday, quoting a senior official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) as saying.
“So far, three business centers have been established in Africa, and we plan to increase this number to 10 centers by the end of the year,” Director-General of TPO’s Africa Office Mohammad-Sadeq Qanadzadeh said.
Speaking at the first meeting of the Iran-Africa House which was held in collaboration with TPO, Qanadzadeh stated: “The purpose of this meeting is to introduce Iran's investment and business opportunities to African trade partners.”
According to the official, since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21), more than 400 business delegations from Africa have traveled to Iran, and the Iranian government is also taking all the necessary measures to develop mutual relations.
Stressing the need for the improvement of infrastructure and providing new incentives for the development of trade with Africa, Qanadzadeh noted that several contracts have been signed with African trade partners for the development of infrastructure and maritime and air transportation.
“The agreement for the establishment of a direct airline between Iran and South Africa will also be concluded by the end of the year,” he added.
He further pointed to the upward trend of trade with African nations, saying: “In the first quarter of this year, many African countries have been among Iran's top trade partners, which is a very good thing.”
Back in June, TPO Head Alireza Peyman-Pak said the country is taking the necessary steps to increase annual trade exchanges with African countries to $5 billion by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (begins in March 2025).
Peyman-Pak said the trade with the mentioned countries is expected to reach $2.5 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year.
Referring to the preparation of the country's trade development roadmap at the beginning of the work of the 13th administration, the official said: "In this roadmap, major factors including exports and the share of different sectors is specified, and in the case of Africa, the priorities and targets for trade with different countries and the requirements for reaching these targets are determined."
Peyman-Pak put the share of African countries in Iran's export basket at $1.2 billion, saying: "Africa's annual imports amount to about $580 billion and our share of this figure is still small despite all the efforts. We have managed to export $1.2 billion to this market."
Vienna talks at “now or never” stage
TEHRAN— Speaking with foreign policy journalists on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister informed the press about crucial issues surrounding the Vienna talks intended to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official name for the 2015 nuclear deal.
“We will submit our final conclusion in black and white to the European Union coordinator by 00:00 this night. If the U.S. response is realistic and flexible, a deal will be made. If the U.S. doesn’t show flexibility, then we should talk further,” Amir Abdollahian said on the sidelines of a ceremony to commemorate Iran’s Day of Correspondent.
However, Iran’s top diplomat reiterated that if an agreement is not reached, the world will not end.
He added, “We are exchanging messages with the U.S. on three issues and we will announce our latest comments in the coming days. We told America that if our opinions on these three issues, which are reasonable opinions, are respected, we are ready to enter the stage of announcing an agreement and hold a conclusion meeting with the presence of the foreign ministers in Vienna.”
The Iranian foreign minister underlined the need for the U.S. to show flexibility, saying that Iran has already demonstrated a great deal of flexibility and that now it’s the U.S.'s turn to follow suit.
“America knows very well how much flexibility we have shown, now it is the turn of the American side to be flexible. In the recent Vienna negotiations, the American side expressed its verbal flexibility on two issues. This should be in writing. In the third issue and guarantees, we must have America's flexibility. If America shows flexibility, we will reach a point of agreement in the coming days.”
Amir Abdollahian also spoke of Iran’s plan B. “They talk about Plan B, but we also have our Plan B. At the end of the day, I believe that all issues should be resolved through negotiations.”
He then went on to note that the differences could be resolved if all sides adopt a realistic approach.
The comments immediately went viral and attracted the attention of several political analysts, as well as officials involved in the negotiations process.
Russia’s top negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted “Encouraging signals from Tehran.”
He then went on to note that Russia has never been an obstacle to the JCPOA revival and will never be.
“#Russia never was and will not be an obstacle on the way towards restoration of the #JCPOA,” Ulyanov tweeted.
He further continued, “The text on the table was elaborated by all participants in the #ViennaTalks. The #EU introduced on August 8 just a few amendments to it.”
Laurence Norman, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal claimed on Twitter, “A source suggests that what Iran wants is a guarantee that sanctions on some entities/sectors won’t spillover into stopping trade/transactions in others.”
The Vienna talks are at a crucial stage. Critical days are ahead of both Iran, the U.S. and P4+1. Although the West claims that the possibility of further negotiations seems to be exhausted by all sides, it seems that Iran is ready to hold further talks. A breakthrough could still be reached any minute.
In this regard, the Tehran Times has learned that an extraordinary meeting was held at President Ebrahim Raisi’s office on Monday morning to review the EU proposals and Iran’s final response. The meeting was chaired by President Raisi and several cabinet ministers, including Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian.
After the meeting, Mohammad Jamshidi, director of the presidential office for political affairs, tweeted, “U.S. has retreated from the strategic goal of Maximum Pressure policy to force Iran to concede its legitimate defense & regional policy and to permanently give up sovereign nuclear rights. This was rigorously pursued after exiting the JCPOA & imposing inhumane sanctions on Iranians.”
The tweet was interpreted as a glimpse of hope towards reviving the JCPOA. Nevertheless, Amir Abdollahian’s remarks along with Jamshidi’s recent tweet have created a passion among journalists and political analysts that a deal could soon be signed in Vienna.
According to the foreign minister, a draft of the EU proposal was submitted to the parliament, and the MPs were not entirely happy. However, Amir Abdollahian said a deal could not satisfy everyone.
“We had two texts. One was entirely in our favor and was 100% Iranian, and the other one contained the views of seven countries. Those who have negotiated know that one has to sacrifice some things to gain concessions,” Amir Abdollahian noted.
“I was in the Majlis (parliament) last week and they said that they saw the draft and it has flaws, but I will say from now on that if we reach an agreement tomorrow, if someone carefully goes over the text, the text we wrote will have flaws, but the flaws come from the fact that our opposite side of the negotiations also has demands. We cannot say that what you say is not true and your words are not acceptable to us. The text we have may have the same flaws as the JCPOA. This is due to the nature of negotiation,” he stated.
Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon, Nour News, a media close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), announced that the security body held an extraordinary meeting. The meeting was chaired by Raisi, Nour News reported.
“In the extraordinary session of the Supreme National Security Council, which was chaired by President Raisi, an extensive report was presented to the members of the council by Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s chief negotiator regarding the sanctions removal talks,” it reported.
In the meeting, the report added, Bagher Kani gave full and detailed explanations about the content of the ideas proposed by Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator for the talks. He also elaborated on the process of the recent round of talks in Vienna, which lasted for 5 days.
“Based on the determined strategies, ending the political claims related to Safeguards issues and creating the necessary guarantees to ensure the sustainability of Iran's economic benefit from the agreement has been the focus of the negotiating team’s agenda in Vienna,” Nour News quoted Bagheri Kani as saying.
As of writing this article, Iran’s final response to the EU proposal is being written.
Iran to submit final conclusion on Vienna talks to EU by midnight: FM
TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian announced on Monday that Iran will submit its conclusion on the talks in Vienna to the European Union by Monday midnight.
Speaking to reporters on Monday at the sidelines of a ceremony for commemorating Iran’s Day of Correspondent, Amir Abdollahian said, “We will submit our final conclusion in black and white to the EU coordinator by 00:00 this night. If the U.S. response is realistic and flexible, a deal will be made. If the U.S. doesn’t show flexibility, then we should talk further.”
He added, “We are exchanging messages with America on three issues and we will announce our latest comments in the coming days. We told America that if our opinions on these three issues, which are reasonable opinions, are respected, we are ready to enter the stage of announcing an agreement and hold a conclusion meeting.”
The Iranian foreign minister underlined the need for the U.S. to show flexibility, saying that Iran has already demonstrated a great deal of flexibility and that now it’s the U.S.'s turn to follow suit.
He said, “America knows very well how much flexibility we have shown, now it is the turn of the American side to be flexible. In the recent Vienna negotiations, the American side expressed its verbal flexibility on two issues. This should be in writing. In the third issue and guarantees, we must have America's flexibility. If America shows flexibility, we will reach a point of agreement in the coming days.”
Amir Abdollahian also spoke of Iran’s plan B. “They talk about Plan B, but we also have our Plan B. This issue should be resolved through negotiations.”
