Iran is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and is ready for dialogue, President Masoud Pezeshkian said. He dismissed the allegations against Tehran as malicious propaganda and condemned US sanctions against the country.
His position was expressed during a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze in Yerevan. The conversation took place on the sidelines of a UN meeting on biodiversity.
“Iran does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons and we believe that the malicious propaganda against our country is false“, Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by his office.The Iranian president added that his country has always been ready for dialogue. “They think they can force us to capitulate, but we will not succumb to coercion“, he said, describing the US sanctions as “unjustified and inhuman“.
Tehran seeks closer relations with Tbilisi
During the meeting, Pezeshkian called for rapprochement between Iran and Georgia. According to the Tasnim news agency, he requested a precise timetable for strengthening bilateral cooperation.
The Georgian prime minister, for his part, said, according to Tasnim, that he opposed any foreign interference in the internal affairs of neighboring countries. However, Kobakhidze's office did not issue a statement to this effect.
The meeting took place against a backdrop of tensions over air links between the two countries. A few weeks earlier, Georgia suspended flights by Iranian airlines after the introduction of US sanctions against them.
In September, the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency said that the country would comply with the US sanctions regime. At the time, Kobakhidze stressed that Georgia does not impose its own bilateral sanctions against Iran.
“We do not impose bilateral sanctions against Iran“, the Georgian prime minister said on this occasion, describing such a step as incorrect. According to him, Tbilisi follows the established international sanctions regime.
Sources: bta.bg