Iran has suspended implementation of its agreements with the United States after Washington violated its commitments and continued its attacks, said the Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, stressing that Tehran will honor its obligations only if the US fulfills its own.
Baqaei said on Saturday that Iran has never been the first party to violate its commitments, arguing that Washington effectively abandoned the agreement from its earliest days. He said the entire agreement process is now suspended because of the US breach of its obligations and continued military actions.
He also said Article 5 of the memorandum of understanding does not grant the United States the right to establish a separate independent route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Addressing Iran’s recent restrictions in the strategic waterway, Baqaei said the measures constitute a responsible response to the aggressors’ use of the Strait of Hormuz to launch attacks on Iran. He added that the United States used parts of the strait, along with its military bases in Gulf countries, to carry out military operations against Iran.
Baqaei said ending the war and bloodshed in Lebanon remains a key priority for Tehran. He also claimed that different factions within the U.S. administration are obstructing the implementation of the commitments Washington accepted under the memorandum of understanding.
He further asserted that “the Zionist entity cannot survive without war” and said the so-called “maximum pressure” campaign had targeted ordinary Iranian citizens from the outset.
Gharibabadi: Aggression Will Achieve Nothing
Separately, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran is engaged in the decisive defense of the country, adding that the United States has once again realized that “these acts of aggression will not achieve any result.”
Gharibabadi said Iran had been engaged in negotiations when the United States, in his account, violated its commitments under the memorandum of understanding by carrying out military attacks.
“The United States effectively violated all of its commitments and halted the entire process, and we, in turn, suspended all of our obligations under that memorandum of understanding,” he said.
He added that if Washington had acted wisely, it would have pursued other solutions, but Iran’s course now is to defend the country decisively and respond to the aggression.
Source: Al-Manar Website