Tehran Asks US Officials to Respect Iranian Nation


Tehran Asks US Officials to Respect Iranian Nation

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran called on the US to adopt a realistic policy towards the country after US president and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington during which Barack Obama said all options against Iran were on the table.

“We still expect that the US officials to deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran realistically and treat the Iranian nation respectfully,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told reporters in her weekly press conference here in Tehran on Tuesday, adding that Iran expects to see a shift in approach and tone of US policies concerning its nuclear activities.

"The actual behavior of this country's officials towards our nuclear activities are the main yardstick for the Islamic Republic; the US government now faces a test to demonstrate it sticks to its new stances regarding Iran," she stressed.

Her remarks came after President Barack Obama assured the Israeli prime minister on Monday that Iran’s words about its nuclear program must be matched with concrete actions.

“It is absolutely clear that words are not sufficient,” Obama told Benjamin Netanyahu at the Oval Office. “We take no options off the table, including military options.”

The meeting between Obama and Netanyahu came three days after Obama’s phone call with Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, the first top-level direct contact between Iran and the US in 34 years.

Afkham further pointed to President Rouhani’s visit to New York and said during the trip the Iranian delegation offered “realism, peace and moderation” to the world and was welcomed by world nations.

President Rouhani and his US counterpart Barack Obama talked over the phone as the Iranian official was on his way to leave New York City on Friday.

President Rouhani said in New York his country was ready to engage in constructive talks with the West to address all issues over its peaceful nuclear program and rejected claims that Tehran was after nuclear weapons.

"Nuclear weapon and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran's security and defence doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethical convictions. Our national interests make it imperative that we remove any and all reasonable concerns about Iran's peaceful nuclear program."

To this end he said Tehran was ready to engage in time-bound and result-oriented talks to build mutual confidence and to remove mutual uncertainties with full transparency.

Rouhani criticized the use of international sanctions against Iran, saying they have created problems for ordinary people in his country.

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