Iranian President Calls The United States Hegemonic System Has No Credibility

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. (Wikimedia Commons/Mohammed Ali Marizad/Tasnim News Agency)

JAKARTA - Iran wants to resume nuclear talks with world powers that lead to the removal of United States (US) sanctions, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said at the UN General Assembly, when negotiations on the 2015 Nuclear Agreement stalled.

"The Islamic Republic considers the talks fruitful the end result of which will be the lifting of all oppressive (US) sanctions," Raisi said in a pre-recorded speech, citing Reuters September 22.

"The (US) maximum suppression policy is still in effect. We want nothing more than what is ours. We demand the implementation of international rules. All parties must remain true to the nuclear deal and UN Resolutions in practice," Raisi continued.

Iran and the United States in April began indirect talks in Vienna to save the nuclear deal. However, the talks stalled two days after Raisi was elected Iran's president in June.

Under the 2015 Nuclear Deal, Iran curbed its uranium enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear weapons, in exchange for the lifting of US, UN, and European Union sanctions.

However, Donald Trump while in office took the US out of the deal three years ago, reimposing tough sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors, causing the country's economy to collapse.

Ebrahim Raisi, one of Iran's hard-line clerics who is under personal US sanctions for alleged human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said US sanctions were a crime against humanity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump's re-imposition of US sanctions in 2018 prompted Tehran to breach the nuclear deal's limits. Tehran says its nuclear move could be reversed if Washington lifts all sanctions.

President Raisi, echoing Iran's official stance for years, said nuclear weapons have no place in our defense doctrine and deterrence policy.

Tehran signaled Tuesday that negotiations in Vienna would resume in a few weeks, without giving a specific date. Despite Iran's need to boost its economy by negotiating an end to US sanctions, insiders expect Raisi to take a tougher line when talks resume.

Meanwhile, Iranian and Western officials say there are still many issues to be resolved before the deal can be revived.

A staunch critic of the West, Raisi said the United States "does not have the credibility to enforce its hegemony."

"From the Capitol to Kabul, one clear message was sent to the world, the hegemonic system of the United States has no credibility, both at home and abroad," Raisi said.

He was referring to the January 6 attack by Donald Trump supporters on Capitol Hill, Washington DC as well as the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August.