Iran president praises 2015 nuclear deal, calls for relations ‘based on equal footing’

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Making the case for the Western world to shift its approach to the Islamic Republic, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country is “prepared to foster meaningful economic, social, political and security partnerships with global powers and its neighbors based on equal footing.”

“The appropriate response to this message from Iran is not to impose more sanctions, but to fulfill existing obligations to remove sanctions benefiting the Iranian people, hence laying the foundations for more constructive agreements,” he says in his address to the UN General Assembly.

He speaks positively about the 2015 nuclear agreement his country inked with the US and other world powers.

“Iran agreed to the highest, unprecedented level of nuclear oversight in return for recognition of our rights and the lifting of sanctions,” he says, blasting former US president Donald Trump’s 2018 unilateral withdrawal from the agreement and implementation of major sanctions against Tehran.

“The goal was to securitize Iran, which instead leads to insecurity for all the policies of the US,” Pezeshkian claims.

“We are ready to engage with JCPOA participants. If JCPOA commitments are implemented fully and in good faith, dialogue on other issues can follow,” he adds, using the initials for the normal name of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Pezeshkian then addresses his remarks to the American people.

“It is not Iran that has established military bases along your borders… imposed sanctions on your country, obstructed your trade relations with the world… prevents you from accessing medicine… restricted access to the global banking and financial system… targeted your military leaders. Rather, it is the United States that assassinated Iran’s most revered military commander at the Baghdad airport,” he says, referring to former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in 2020.

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