‘Iran ready to join action against ISIS if West lifts sanctions’
22 Aug 2014 5:47 AM IST
Iran is ready to join international action against jihadists in Iraq provided the West lifts crippling sanctions, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday.
His comments followed a call by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday for all countries in the region, including Iran, to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) fighters who have seized swathes of Iraq as well as neighbouring Syria.‘If we agree to do something in Iraq, the other side of the negotiations should do something in return,’ the official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.
‘All the sanctions that are related to Iran’s nuclear programme should be lifted,’ he said.It is the first time that Iran has explicitly linked its readiness to work with the West in Iraq with a lifting of the crippling EU and US sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme.
Those sanctions are the subject of ongoing talks between Tehran and the major powers that are due to resume before the opening of the UN General Assembly next month.
In return for lifting the sanctions, the Western powers are demanding that Iran sharply rein in its nuclear programme to ally international concerns about its ambitions as part of a comprehensive deal they are seeking to strike by November. The Iranian foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday that discussions were under way with several European governments about the possibility of joint action against IS in Iraq.
His comments followed a call by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday for all countries in the region, including Iran, to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) fighters who have seized swathes of Iraq as well as neighbouring Syria.‘If we agree to do something in Iraq, the other side of the negotiations should do something in return,’ the official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.
‘All the sanctions that are related to Iran’s nuclear programme should be lifted,’ he said.It is the first time that Iran has explicitly linked its readiness to work with the West in Iraq with a lifting of the crippling EU and US sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme.
Those sanctions are the subject of ongoing talks between Tehran and the major powers that are due to resume before the opening of the UN General Assembly next month.
In return for lifting the sanctions, the Western powers are demanding that Iran sharply rein in its nuclear programme to ally international concerns about its ambitions as part of a comprehensive deal they are seeking to strike by November. The Iranian foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday that discussions were under way with several European governments about the possibility of joint action against IS in Iraq.
Next Story
