Iran makes threats as Washington prevents Tehran delegation from entering the US

Nora Bandari

Iran’s rhetoric toward the United States and European countries on the nuclear deal has grown sharply. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araghchi announced on October 24 that his country would not accept any initiative that does not achieve Iranian interests in the nuclear deal. He stressed that European countries must meet their demands, or they will continue to reduce their obligations under the nuclear agreement.

Following the threats by Tehran’s deputy foreign minister, Washington barred an Iranian economic delegation from obtaining visas to the United States.

Iranian threat

Araghchi said during a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Moscow on October 24 that Iran accepts the initiatives only when they are balanced and realistic and provide his country’s interests the nuclear agreement. He called on the remaining countries in the agreement to maintain it, pointing out that the path of diplomacy is still open but becomes more narrow and rugged every day. He also criticized Washington’s policies and Europe’s inability to fulfill its obligations after the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal.

The Iranian official threatened that if Iran’s demands are not met, it will continue to reduce its obligations under the nuclear agreement on the basis of its right in Article 36 of the agreement, adding that no one should question his country’s will in this area.

Araghchi’s statement came in response to the French initiative announced last September, which proposed a plan to enable Iran to receive an $18.2 billion loan, provided Tehran returned to abide by the 2015 nuclear deal again.

US pressure policy

In response to the threats, US authorities refused to issue visas to an Iranian economic delegation headed by Economy Minister Farhad Dejpasand, which was visiting to attend the annual session of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund held in Washington between October 14 and 20, prompting the delegation to cancel its visit, according to the Iranian Tasnim news agency.

The Iranian minister said that Washington’s refusal to issue visas to members of the economic delegation represented illegal and hostile restrictions by the US government against his country.

Washington was previously late in granting visas to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to attend the UN General Assembly on September 19. The visas were issued late after the start of the General Assembly’s work due to the sanctions imposed on Tehran officials, which shows that the US policy is to put pressure on Tehran in order to force it to a comprehensive agreement that includes the nuclear deal as well as missile and regional issues.

Washington took this action in accordance with a decision issued by President Donald Trump on September 26 to ban the entry of senior Iranian officials to the US, stressing that Iran supports terrorism by threatening its neighbors, arbitrarily detaining US citizens, and carrying out destructive cyber attacks.

Osama al-Hitimi, an Iranian affairs specialist, said that it is clear from Araghchi’s statements that Iran is keen to push the European countries involved in the nuclear deal to activate its initiatives in order to keep Tehran abiding by the terms of the agreement.

Hitimi added that these initiatives are not implemented, which keeps the situation as it is while Iran approaches the time limit it has set for the implementation of the fourth phase of reducing its obligations under the terms of the agreement, a reduction that Iran sees as a sword to the necks the Americans and Europeans. At the same time, Iran fears it is breaching the rules of the game and exceeding the red lines, which could expose it to ominous consequences.

Hitimi pointed out that these statements carry two important meanings. First, they urge the European parties to intensify their moves in the remaining days of the Iranian deadline, while the second is somewhat contradictory as it reveals the state of inaction and the inability of the Europeans to change the situation, especially since Europe did not act and is silent on any of the US policies against Iran.

He pointed out that with regard to the incident of the Iranian minister of economy, there is no doubt that among the package of measures taken by the United States to pressure Iran is to impose international isolation and restrict its communication with the international community, which was reflected in several aspects, including having restricted the visas of the delegation accompanying President Rouhani to the United States to participate in the UN General Assembly.

Hitimi stressed that Washington aims Iran losing the ability to communicate collectively with the largest number of countries and then reduce the chances of Tehran to put forward its vision of the US-Iranian conflict, which gives Washington a greater chance in creating an international alignment regarding its positions and policies in the management of this conflict.