The Government of Iran highlighted this Monday that diplomatic contacts with the United States continue through mediators despite the exchanges of attacks in recent days and confirmed the receipt of “messages” through these countries to try to reduce tensions and return to compliance with the April ceasefire and the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed in June.
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“The diplomatic apparatus is fulfilling its duties in parallel with the actions of the armed forces, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will spare no effort to stop the crimes of the United States,” said the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, before emphasizing that “the diplomats know their duty and spare no effort.”
“Proposals have been conveyed to us through mediators and we have received them, but for now I cannot give details,” he stated at a press conference from the capital, Tehran, from where he stressed that “the main thing is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active these days and that some mediators have conveyed messages.”
Thus, he emphasized that “the goal is to protect Iran’s national interests, sometimes by defensive means, sometimes by diplomatic means, sometimes by both at the same time,” while insisting that it was the United States that was responsible for violating the clauses of the memorandum of understanding, which led Tehran not to comply with its obligations under the text.
“When the other party failed to fulfill its obligations one after another, we emphasized that we would not fulfill ours. Therefore, the matter is quite clear,” he argued. “An understanding or agreement has value and validity as long as the parties fulfill their obligations; otherwise, it will be nothing more than a written document,” he maintained.
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In this regard, he noted that “peace is not a luxury item displayed in the showcase of international relations.” “One must fight for peace. Peace is an extremely expensive good, especially in our region, where war has become cheapened and normalized,” he said.
Baqaei therefore called to “abandon romantic and fanciful ideas about war and peace.” “War is something real. Our compatriots must know that war was imposed on us,” he pointed out, before rejecting Washington’s arguments for the conflict, which he described as “excuses” to continue its offensive against the Asian country.
The United States has been launching attacks against Iran for several days alleging violations of the memorandum of understanding, something rejected by Tehran, which has denounced ceasefire violations and responded with attacks against U.S. interests in the region, raising fears of a collapse of negotiations for a peace agreement.
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