Issue of lifting sanctions, neutralizing sanctions to be pursued powerfully: President Raisi

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Mon / 6 December 2021 / 11:27

Tehran (ISNA) - Referring to the outbreak of coronavirus, the economic situation and the treasury at the time of taking the office, Iranian President said, "The most important thing was the damage done to the hope and trust of the people, and one of the duties of the government was to restore this hope and trust".

Speaking in the third televised interview on the occasion of the 100th day of the 13th government, President Ebrahim Raisi said, "One of the most important tasks and issues facing the government was to protect people's lives".

"On the day of the presidential endorsement ceremony, I announced that the first issue that the government faced was coronavirus and the need for public vaccination," said the President.

He continued, "The most important thing was the damage done to the hope and trust of the people, and one of the duties of the government was to restore this hope and trust".

Stating that out of more than 30 million vaccines purchased, only 5 million had been delivered, the President said, "Given these circumstances, we have made public vaccination a priority for the government, and today we thank God that the death toll has dropped dramatically".

"Today, on the 100th day of the government, I have to announce that more than 100 million doses of vaccine have been injected," Dr. Raisi said.

Referring to the strengthening of regional government diplomacy and attending two important summits and the achievement of membership in the SCO, President Raisi said, "Our policy with the countries of the world is an active and maximum policy, with priority given to neighbours and countries in the region. In this regard, during this 100-day period, I had face-to-face and telephone communication with these countries, stressing that the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to develop political, economic, social and cultural relations with the world".

Referring to the Shanghai Summit, the President said, "In this summit, we met with the heads of state, so in these meetings, it was emphasised that our relations should develop, because none of these countries and we ourselves were satisfied with the status quo of the relations".

Referring to the amount of foreign trade between Iran and Tajikistan, the President said, "In this regard, I took a statistic from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and saw that trade has tripled to this day after a relatively short time".

The President continued, "Also, after our membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, we told economic actors that they should be active and be able to communicate with the economic infrastructure and Asia as a whole".

Referring to his recent visit to Turkmenistan, the President said, "We had problems with Turkmenistan for 5 years, so following this visit, the relations between the two countries were reconsidered, as well as the issue of Iran's transit and the issue of gas swaps between Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. This can introduce Iran as a regional hub".

The President stressed that the presence of ports in the country could be a good ground for interaction with neighbouring countries, "For example, in Turkmenistan, we had a meeting with economic activists who work there and are dissatisfied for two years. These economic activists told us that they should think about it because there are many fields for activity, so I promised them that I would follow the revival of the gas contract so that their work would take place. The same was the case in Azerbaijan and other countries".

The President said, "We have concluded agreements but we have not announced them. Let me just say in general that these issues have been announced with different countries in recent times, but of course, the amounts are heavy".

Dr. Raisi stated that the agreements concluded with the countries of the region are significant and can contribute to economic prosperity, emphasising, Economic actors should be very active and hopeful in this regard".

Referring to the negotiations between Iran and the P4+1, the President said, "Regarding the negotiations, we started two things from the beginning of the government. One was the neutralisation of the sanctions for which we have a headquarters and the First Vice-President is responsible for this and is pursuing to neutralise the sanctions. Second is the issue of lifting sanctions, which is also on the government's agenda".

President Raisi stressed that the other side thought that we would not take part in the talks and that we would not have anything to say, adding, "They thought that we would not take an initiative. Thank God, today it was proved to the entire world that Iran both participated in the negotiations powerfully and with pride, and presented two texts; both on the nuclear issue and on the sanctions, so things are in line with what is stipulated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)".

Ayatollah Raisi stressed that the issue of lifting the sanctions and neutralising the sanctions will be pursued powerfully, adding, "We do not relate our economy, that is our 1401 budget, to these issues in any way".

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