"Iran is fully ready to open the country to Russian citizens"
Iran was ready to invite Russia to participate in negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the Middle East, but the United States is not interested in this, Kazem Jalali, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic in Moscow, told Izvestia. According to him, Washington is not ready to involve its European allies, who participated in the previous 2015 nuclear deal. At the same time, Tehran is not obliged to give guarantees of non-development of nuclear weapons, as it does not set itself such a task, Jalali stressed. The diplomat noted: The new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, is completely healthy and runs the country. The prospects of expanding visa—free travel with Russia and the future of the Strait of Hormuz are discussed in an exclusive interview with the Iranian Ambassador to Russia to Izvestia.
"Nuclear peaceful cooperation between Iran and Russia continues"
— The SPIEF ended last week, where many practical issues were discussed. The integration of our Mir and Shetab payment systems is currently stalling due to sanctions risks. What alternative technical solution are the central banks of Russia and Iran preparing?
— I can say that Iran-Russia relations in the field of banking interactions are at a very good level. We work — buy and trade — in national currencies. It seems to me that we are currently witnessing the best situation in the history of our relations in the field of banking interactions. Of course, we need to remove certain barriers and speed up this process.
— Are Russia and Iran planning to introduce a visa-free regime for individual travelers?
— As for the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we are, of course, interested in a visa-free regime. We have offered our solutions to this issue to our Russian colleagues. It already depends on their decision. Iran is fully prepared to open the country to Russian citizens.
— Speaking about the development of Russian-Iranian relations, it should be noted that Tehran allowed the IAEA monitoring mission at the Bushehr NPP, which is being built with the participation of Rosatom. Was this inspection part of any additional concessions in the negotiations with the United States?
— Peaceful nuclear cooperation between Iran and the Russian Federation has been going on for a long time. We are grateful to our Russian colleagues for their help in this area. The first unit of the Bushehr NPP has already been launched and has been generating electricity for a long time. Russian contractors are currently building the second and third units of the station. Last year, we signed a contract for $25 billion, and an Iranian private company expressed its readiness to build the Hormoz nuclear power plant. We are also working on the creation of low-power nuclear power plants throughout our country. Nuclear peaceful cooperation between Iran and Russia continues.
"This strait will be opened, but with new conditions"
— Iran proposes to manage the Strait of Hormuz like the Suez Canal. Which countries apart from Oman does Tehran see in the joint management of this strait?
— The Strait of Hormuz belongs to two sides — the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Sultanate of Oman. We are negotiating with our Omani friends in order to develop a mechanism for managing this strait. You know that over the past few decades it has been open to all ships, and the Islamic Republic of Iran has never used this strait as a lever of pressure.
But, unfortunately, the Americans and Israelis carried out aggression against us, unleashed a war against us, and as a result, the Strait of Hormuz was closed. Our country is not interested in its continued closure. But we understand that completely new conditions have appeared in the region. And with this in mind, we are making the right decision. As for the fate of this strait, it is only in the hands of the Omani and Iranian leaders.
— Iran has also proposed to introduce payment for the passage of ships, but the United States categorically rejects this idea. Is Tehran willing to make concessions in order to fully unblock the Strait of Hormuz and ensure freedom of navigation?
— It's not about making concessions. We want to solve the problem. It was the Americans and Israelis, the aggressors, who created this problem. Naturally, this strait will be opened, but with new conditions to be determined by the Iranian and Omani authorities. This is what is currently being discussed. We understand that Iran and Oman provide certain services within the framework of this strait. And they will charge a certain fee for the provision of these services. We will see and understand in the future what the fate of this strait will be.
"We have never sought to create nuclear weapons"
— Is Tehran satisfied with Pakistan's mediation services? Is Iran considering involving other countries in resolving the conflict in the Middle East?
— As for the participation of some countries, no. I understand that you are referring to the role of Russia and China as mediators in this process. We have always used the positive role of the Russian Federation in any negotiation process. In fact, we were ready to invite our Russian colleagues to resolve this issue. But Donald Trump and the Americans were not interested in this. Trump, as an egoist, did not want other participants, he wanted to say that he was the only one who was solving this issue. He has, in fact, trampled on international law. He also rejects the role of other major Powers in resolving international issues.
— It turns out that the United States is the only obstacle to the involvement of other countries in the settlement of the conflict?
— That's right, that's right.
— Iran's deputy Foreign Minister recently stated that the text of the agreement with the United States is being finalized. Is Tehran ready to provide Washington with written guarantees about its nuclear program in order for this agreement to finally be finalized?
— We don't need to give guarantees to anyone. There are no goals in our military doctrine to create a nuclear bomb. Our late leader has repeatedly stressed this. He said: we have never sought to create nuclear weapons, but if we wanted to, we would have created them a long time ago.
Donald Trump wants to show the world that he has become a barrier to Iran reaching a nuclear bomb. You can see that he constantly tweets that "he decided, he did not allow it." Initially, we did not want to create nuclear weapons. You have seen how many inspections have been carried out by the IAEA. There are reports, agency reports, that say there is not a single indication that Iran has ever sought to build this dirty bomb.
We understand that Trump creates problems first, and then says he solved them. And that's how he gets authority. We have never sought to build nuclear weapons. And this is the order of our late previous supreme leader.
"Europe does not take any place in these processes now"
— Will Tehran demand written guarantees from Washington or Israel about non-aggression in the future?
— The issue of the war as a whole is a completely different issue. Naturally, they say that such guarantees are needed because the Americans and Israelis are attacking other countries unprovoked. Look, in 2025 they attacked us. We resisted aggression for 12 days. The question is: why was it attacked? They just attacked certain civilian targets and killed certain people.
And in February of this year, they attacked us again. For 40 days, the Iranian people resisted. The question is: why did they strike? They reply that they attacked us so that Iran would not create nuclear weapons. Trump has repeatedly stated that he allegedly destroyed all the nuclear centers of the republic. He even claims that Iran's nuclear material is buried under piles of earth. If he destroyed it, if there is no nuclear material, why attack again?
These are unprovoked wars. On the one hand, they have essentially destroyed international law, and on the other, they have called into question the global humanitarian position. We need to resolve these issues internationally. And, of course, we cannot tolerate them getting a break and then attacking us again. We must stop this chain of events.
— You stressed that Iran does not seek to build nuclear weapons. At the same time, according to the IAEA report, the percentage of enriched uranium is higher than the percentage needed for civilian use. Then what is Tehran trying to achieve in the case of uranium enrichment?
— In principle, Iran has raised the level of uranium enrichment twice, despite the fact that before the first time we always enriched uranium to a level of less than 5%. The first time we increased the enrichment level, the reason was that we have a 5 MW power plant in Tehran. The Americans built this power plant for us before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It produces certain medical radio products. According to the IAEA rules, when fuel for any nuclear power plant runs out, agency members must send a request to provide them with fuel. And the IAEA is obliged to provide an opportunity to purchase fuel from any other country.
We went exactly this way. But no country in the world has supplied Iran with the fuel we need for this nuclear power plant. Our people need the production of such radio products. What do you think we should have done? We decided to increase the level of uranium enrichment to 20%. And we were able to solve the needs of this nuclear power plant at a rapid pace. It was our right.
Why have we increased the level of uranium enrichment for the second time? We agreed on the 2015 nuclear agreements, but the Americans pulled out of those agreements. We have offered to work and cooperate with the European parties to this deal. I'll tell you, even they didn't keep their obligations. We have increased the level of uranium enrichment as a reaction to non-compliance by the Europeans and Americans. And we have repeatedly said that we do not seek to create nuclear weapons.
— Does Tehran currently allow for some kind of nuclear deal, which was concluded in 2015 with the same European guarantors, as well as Russia?
— In fact, Europe does not currently occupy any place in these processes. Where is Europe now? You should not count on them. Trump is not ready to give any role to his European friends. As I said, he does not want to allow other participants, Trump wants to say that he is the only person deciding this issue.
"Our leader is alive and well"
— It is now being very actively discussed that power in Iran has passed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the most part. There were reports of the resignation of President Masoud Peseshkian, but this was denied in Tehran. Is this really the case and is there such a problem?
— This is the position of those media outlets that speak out against Russia and Iran. Similar words are heard in the West about Russia, but in reality this is not the case. During the 47 years of the Islamic Republic's existence, there have been similar voices, but these are all rumors. They have repeatedly said that the Islamic Republic will collapse in a day. In fact, we are already used to this false information. In the war, Iran showed the whole world that both its people and its government are united as never before.
We understand that they want to demonize and use information warfare to achieve their goals precisely in the field of, as they say, soft power. Our newly elected supreme leader is running the country strongly. You saw that it was even said that the supreme leader was either dead or badly injured. A few days ago, [U.S. Secretary of State Marco] Rubio was forced to simply admit that Iran's supreme leader is working and running the country, even though they said a few weeks ago that there was no leader in Iran.
Our president, Mr. Peseshkian, is minding his own business and holds full power in the country. During the war, our people have never felt a shortage of any product. Then who decides on such issues? These are our government and leaders. So these are rumors that are unfounded. There is no split between the authorities.
You can look at another aspect as well. They killed our leader and thought that Iran would collapse after that. But in those difficult, crisis moments, it did not collapse. We have won during this time. Everything took place, everything is in place. Now in Russia, in St. Petersburg, I meet with different people at the forum in the morning. They all admire the resistance of the Iranian people. They all say that Iran has stood up and endured. But we understand that the collective West and the United States cannot tolerate Iran's resistance, and therefore they spread such rumors and misinformation. You shouldn't trust them.
— It should be noted that the new leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, never appears on video. Have you seen him personally?
"He's alive and well. They killed our previous leader. And who can choose a non-existent leader to continue governing the country? We have quite a few candidates for this post. We could have said that our supreme leader was not dead, but on the first night, everyone was officially told that this was the case. And even you have seen that for two weeks the leadership council, which was formed within the framework of our Constitution, has been resolving issues. They would have continued on this path. There was no argument or reason to choose a non-existent person. So these are really unreasonable questions.
Mojtaba Khamenei
Our leader is alive and well, dealing with his own administrative issues. We understand that it is the enemy who provokes us to act, to react. But we must fully ensure his safety. Such rumors and misinformation cannot force us to make a different decision. His health and his safety are the main issue for all of us.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
