JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was not intimidated by the United States' military posture in the region, stressing that Iran pursued diplomacy from a strong position while remaining fully prepared to defend itself.
Speaking on Sunday at the National Congress on Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Foreign Minister Araghchi said, "Currently, their military posture in our region does not scare us. We are a diplomatic nation, and we are also a nation at war; a nation at war does not mean that we are looking for war, but rather we are ready to fight so that no one dares to fight against us," as quoted from IRNA (9/2).
"We are a nation that is diplomatic because we are a logical nation, because we have something to say and we have logic," Foreign Minister Araghchi said.
Responding to Iran's nuclear program, the foreign minister said the country had paid a heavy price to maintain its peaceful nuclear program and enrichment capabilities, a cost he said was in line with national needs.
Furthermore, Foreign Minister Araghchi described enrichment and nuclear programs as important for Iran's needs in various fields, including agriculture and health care, and necessary for future nuclear fuel needs and the operation of nuclear power plants.
He also said that Iran's insistence on enrichment is rooted not only in practical needs but also in independence and dignity.
"Why do we insist, and continue to insist, so strongly on enrichment and are not willing to give it up, even if war is forced upon us? Because no one has the right to tell us what we should or should not have," he said, calling this issue a problem of rejection of domination.
Further clarifying Iran's position, he said, "It is our country's right to enrich, and according to the law, it is up to me whether to use this right or not."
Foreign Minister Araghchi stressed that Iran is ready to address concerns through dialogue.
"If you are worried, we are ready to address those concerns; if there are questions, we will answer them; if there is no trust, we will build trust. But no one has the right to say 'you shouldn't have something just because I want it that way,'" he said.
Foreign Minister Araghchi added that diplomacy is the only viable path to resolve questions surrounding Iran's peaceful nuclear program, noting that other approaches have failed.
"They bombed our facilities, but they did not achieve the results they wanted. Knowledge cannot be destroyed by bombing; technology cannot be eliminated," he said, adding that negotiations were inevitable.
According to him, talks will only succeed if Iran's rights are respected.
"We don't want anyone to recognize our rights; our rights are already there. We want our rights to be respected," he said, warning Iran would retaliate in kind.
"If they speak to the Iranian people in a respectful language, we will respond with respectful language, and if they speak with a violent language, we will respond with a violent language," he said.
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