For Lifting US Sanctions, Our Door Of Discussion Is Open: Raisi

In a candid interview with NBC News' Lester Holt, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi answered various questions about the current crisis in the world and Iran's diplomatic position with the United States and Western countries. At the same time, he also commented on the lifting of US sanctions on Tehran. The interview is presented in full.

LESTER HOLT:

Well, thank you for agreeing to this interview. A lot to talk about. I want to begin with the five Americans. Can you give me an update on their conditions and when they’ll be released?                         

EBRAHIM RAISI (THROUGH A TRANSLATOR):

In the name of Allah, the most compassionate, the most merciful, all peace belongs to the Lord of God. And oh, Allah, please send peace to our prophet, the master of the worlds. In line with a humanitarian action, we have been intending to swap prisoners. We believe that those who are today, I mean, the Iranians who are imprisoned in the U.S. today, they are not imprisoned fairly. And they should be released as soon as possible. So we take actions in order to free them. And accordingly, an agreement regarding the swap of prisoners with the U.S. prisoners who are imprisoned in Iran, and of course the Iranians who are imprisoned in the U.S. So in a humanitarian action between Iran and the U.S. is being done. We can say that it should be done in due time. The arrangements have been done, and the final action of swapping the prisoners should be finalized in the due time. 

LESTER HOLT:

But back to the question of their conditions. Are they healthy? Are they well?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

Yes. They are very healthy. And according to our latest information, they are in full health. When it comes to conditions in Iran for prisoners, if you compare it with the conditions in the United States in the prisons, so the conditions here are much appropriate. According to our reports in the U.S., prisoners are not in good conditions. But in Iran, we provide them with good conditions. And according to our latest information, these American prisoners are in good health.

LESTER HOLT:

That said, the United States says these Americans are being held unjustly. That they had committed to crimes. That they were imprisoned in a notorious prison known for its poor conditions. How do you respond to that?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

Our studies show that, of course, they have some files here. They are in the court. Investigations are being done about these persons. And some of them have been sentenced. And, of course, these sentences have been approved at the highest judicial levels. And whatever the Americans claim, that these persons are imprisoned unjustified and unjustly, of course these claims are rejected. And, of course, their claims have been verified by the court.

LESTER HOLT:

I wanna ask you about the deal. $6 billion that Iran has, its own money for humanitarian purposes. There are many in the United States, members of Congress, who have raised concerns that this is a ransom. That this is appeasement of Iran. That it will only encourage Iran to take Americans and other circumstances and falsely accuse them. What’s your response to that?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

Just from the beginning, we have been intending to release the Iranian frozen assets which have been unjustly frozen by the United States to free them. We believe that this American action was very unjust just from the beginning. It has imposed further pressure on the Iranian people. And we believe that we believe that sanctions are some instruments, including military instruments. And freezing the Iranian assets and stopping them and blocking them from the access of the Iranian government is an unfair action against the Iranian people. And it’s an economic war. So just from the beginning, we have been intending to free our frozen assets. And as soon as possible, these assets are sent to the Iranian accounts. This isn’t right. This unjust action should be compensated.

The issue of prisoners, I told you, that they have been sentenced. Sometimes we are doing investigations. The judges are not verified yet, so the cases are under investigation. But these persons have been sentenced. These sentences are definite and final. So the hostile the U.S. should stop its hostile actions against the Iranian people and Iranian country. So the Iranian frozen assets should be, and should have been, released much earlier.

LESTER HOLT:

You believe this money was wrongfully taken from Iran. But what is your expectation of its use? We’re told that it’s for humanitarian purposes: food and medicine. Do you believe you have the right to use that money in any way that you see fit?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

This money belongs to the Islamic Republic of Iran. And naturally, we will decide, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will decide to spend it wherever we need it. How to spend our money, of course, it is under the authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This money it belongs to the Iranian people, to Iranian government. So the Islamic Republic of Iran will decide what to do with this money.

LESTER HOLT:

So if I hear you clearly, that it will be used for more than humanitarian purposes in your view.

EBRAHIM RAISI:

Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people needs. So this money will be budgeted for those needs. And the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government.

LESTER HOLT:

What is Iran’s plan to get out from under sanctions? What are you willing to do further restart nuclear talks? Where would you wanna go?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

We have always re regarding the lifting of sanctions, we have been very active. We have never left the table of negotiations. But in this regard, we witnessed that the first breach of the commitments was made by the U.S. and the European countries did not deliver their promises.

In this deal, Iran, the Islamic Republican of Iran, has been committing all its promises and commitments, according to, according to the reports issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency. And of course it has not been mentioned only one time, but in 15 reports of the IAEA, they have said that the activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran are peaceful. And there are no diversions in Iran’s nuclear activities.

This is my question. And these questions should be asked by the U.S. people, from the U.S. administration. That why, despite the fact that Iranian nuclear activity is peaceful, but the U.S. government is emphasizing and insisting on continuation of unfair sanctions against my country? And why did the U.S. administration breach the deal that had made with Iran?

It was agreed that parties to the agreement, parties to a deal, should remain committed to the deal. Are you, as the people of the United States and U.S. media, you should ask your administration why the U.S. administration did breach the deal. Is it logical to see that unilaterally one government is breaching the deal? And of course we cannot see a government unilaterally breaching the deal and withdrawing from the deal. So the fir, the U.S. was the first party to breach the deal. And this was not the first time.

On different occasions, the U.S. has been breaching its commitments. And you should give the right to the Iranian people not to trust on the words made by the United States of America. The European countries did not deliver their promises. U.S. media, you should ask the European countries the same questions. And Iran in comparison with European countries and the U.S. delivered its promises. This is not what I’m telling you. This is what the IAEA has said, we have delivered our commitments. So the question is, why the sanctions are still in place?

And at the same time, the sanctions are increased. But your question regarding the nuclear negotiations to lift the sanctions, we have never left the table of negotiations. Because we were right. Because we had logical demands.

This is not a claim made by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The European Union verified that Iran has made logical demands. And whatever Iran is following is logical. But what we are seeing on the U.S. side, that is a breach of the a violation of the deal and continuation of the unfair sanctions against my country.

We believe that as soon as possible these sanctions should be lifted. And these unfair action, which is done against the Iranian people, should be stopped. Even when it comes to food or medicine. You mentioned the issue of food and medicine.

So we have, for example, butterfly patients in the country. We need some medicine for them. Some children who are conflicted with these diseases are dying in the country because these medicines are under sanctions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries tried to assist each other in order to remove this stage. But the the U.S. of course refused to provide us with COVID-19 vaccines. The UN secretary general in a meeting told me that, “I would like to apologize Iran,” because he, as the UN secretary general, he could not do anything in order to export COVID-19 vaccines into Iran.

Last year at the United Nations General Assembly, I told Mr. Secretary General that in Iran we had produced six different types of COVID vaccines on those days. And from the importer of vaccines, we had really an exporter of vaccines. And by the grace of Allah the almighty god, and by the efforts of the Iranian younger generation and scientists, we overcame our problems. But what will be the answer of the U.S. to its people to this question, that why the COVID-19 vaccine was banned from being imported to Iran? All countries assisted—

LESTER HOLT:

Is

EBRAHIM RAISI:

each other. But the U.S. rejected to provide us with the vaccines.

LESTER HOLT:

Mr. President, there was a lot in there. The IAEA has not found Tehran, Iran is in full compliance of of monitoring agreements. But that said, it was the U.S. that withdrew from the nuclear deal under President Trump. As you know, he’s likely to be a presidential candidate again. If he is the president, would you be able to sit down with Donald Trump to discuss a new nuclear agreement?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

We have never seen any results out of or any benefits out of the JCPOA, the nuclear deal. We have never seen any U.S. commitment to that deal, to the JCPOA. So we will leave that deal with no commitment in future for future deal as well. The U.S. should take some confidence building measures. The U.S. should put aside sanctions, should put aside threats, and should recognize that as till now, sanctions have not been successful. They have only pro, created problems. U.S. has not been able to achieve its objectives through sanctions.

Iran has created opportunities out of sanctions for its progress and development. And today, you are in Iran. You can see the different developments in different sectors in technological towns and in different areas that, despite all the threats and sanctions, Iran has made progress.

Sanctions cannot block the Iranian people. They have failed till now. And sanctions have failed in making the Iranian people to step back. We believe that the best way is to listen to the Iranian rightful demands to stop the unfair sanctions. And this can be useful, in line with delivering the U.S. commitments out of the JCPOA.

LESTER HOLT:

We are sitting here, Mr. President, at nearly the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested by the morality police for allegedly improperly wearing her head covering. The response, the government response to the protesters was swift and it was brutal in the eyes of many. Humanitarian groups say at least 500 people were killed, perhaps many young people. Thousands, tens of thousands, were arrested. That there were people executed or put on death row. Journalists who were who were rounded up. What message did that send to the rest of the world how Iran handled those protests?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

It was an incident. And of course the same incidents happen in different U.S. cities. For men, for women, for the Indians in for colored skins—

LESTER HOLT:

And we I should note

EBRAHIM RAISI:

The same incidents happen every day in the U.S. and in the European cities. This was an incident. The Islamic Republic of Iran responded swiftly and followed the issue. In order to probe into the incident, I personally myself had a meeting with the family of Madam Amini. I contacted the family and I promised them to follow this issue. We started our probes, our investigation, judicial investigations. We, in detail, provided people with the info medical information. And all judicial actions and information were provided to people. And her family were provided with the information. But I would like to mention the fact that there were some countries, as some European countries and the U.S., were making use of this incident as a project against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

It was a hybrid war and a cognitive war. It was a political war. It was an economic war, a media war, and a psychological war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. They tried to they did not care about Madam Amini. Neither human rights, nor the nuclear talks and nuclear issues that you pointed out. They are hostile with the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. They believe that with the death of Madam Amini, there were some conditions to show that hostility with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Accordingly, those who live... who left the negotiation table in JCPOA was not Iran. It was the U.S., there were the European countries. And of course they pin their hopes on protests. They say that Iran was like other countries. In order to destabilize country through tensions. Look at our region or different countries. This is an American approach. They destabilize the country under the pretext of human rights. Are they concerned about human rights in the U.S.?

As a media, you so the U.S. people who are listening to our words, they should investigate the incidents in the U.S., in the U.K., which are happening in France today. What is the treatment of the those governments, the French government with these incidents? What is happening on their streets? And what the Islamic Republic of Iran took in this regard, those who carried out terrors in the country, destruction in the country, who are forces of foreigners in the country, it was a totally different story from the protesters.

Fortunately, the Iranian people foiled the tensions in the country. There was protesters. Like any place in the world, there were some demands. We tolerated them. And even our supreme leader issued amnesty for those persons because we believe there was some ignorant. They had been beguiled.

Of course this is not happening in the U.S. But the Islamic Republic of Iran did it out of its generosity. But those who carried out terror, who have killed individuals, who have attacked police and security forces, who had made some destruction in the country, of course we did not have mercy upon them. It was a totally different story. They were very limited. They have been brought to justice. The only the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to listen to the protesters’ voice. So in our statements, in our position, you can see everybody in the country is free to make their statements. Again, freedom of speech.

We have the freedom of writing and press in the country. So the Islamic Republic of Iran last year managed this issue very well. That despite the fact that the U.S. has some, and the European countries, despite all international the rules and regulations and law, they very openly supported the protesters.

The Americans openly extended their supports to those who were trying to destabilize the country. What was a permit for the U.S.? This is a question which should be asked by the U.S. nation from the U.S. administration. How can you support those who are try to destabilize Iran? These persons carried out terror in the country. The U.S. people as should ask the U.S. administration why they supported ISIS. ISIS is beheading individuals. They are destroying homes. These are questions that the U.S. people should ask from the U.S. government.

Why U.S. occupied Afghanistan for more than 20 years. And out of these 20 years of presence in Afghanistan, only 35,000 disabled children were created in the country. So intellectuals in the world should ask the dominant system in the world that the U.S. president did wrong in Afghanistan or in different parts of the world. What kind of security has been established? You have created only destability, tension, disorder. The U.S. and some European countries believe that Iran was very similar to other countries. And would have been successful here. They forgot that the revolution, the Islamic revolution in Iran, was strong (UNINTEL) which would be very resistant against these kind of movements.

LESTER HOLT:

If if I understand what you’re saying, you’re blaming what happened on the streets after Mahsa Amini’s death on Western influences and and American efforts to undermine this country. But those were Iranian security forces in the street firing pellets at at unarmed people or live weapons at crowds that included young people. Do you do you not see anything in in the last year in which you have to take responsibility for?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

Those who provoked the people and made use of these opportunity, that was the U.S. and European countries. Protests happen in different countries, but who are instigating the people, provoking the people are those who try to pit the people and the stable the destabilizers against the people.

For sure, I believe that it was supported by our enemies. We found traces of our enemies. And at the same time, there were some elements in the country. Of course, very limited elements in comparison with the big wave of the Iranian people. They could do nothing. But the our armed forces in this regard, our security force in this regard did their best to treat the protesters, despite the treatments in the U.S. and other Western countries they made very peaceful treatments.

Those who were trying to ablaze banks, or to open fire on the people, or to kill people, certainly our security force on the street cannot allow terror to happen. We cannot allow anyone to disrupt the public places. We cannot endanger the safety of people.

In this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran differentiate differentiated the tensions from protests. So, those who have some protest, they are free. But those who are going to undermine the security, we did not allow that. We managed this incident. We differentiated between protesters and those who had some demands. Those who had some peaceful demands, even if they had been arrested, they were freed. So, the protesters, they were free to explain and to express their demands. For example, we have some union protests. We have some partisan protests. But those who want to destabilize the safety of the society and security of the society, we would not allow it. 

LESTER HOLT:

I have been out on the street

EBRAHIM RAISI:

The reason for the fact that the security forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran did their best in order to protect the people was the fact that the terrorists are trying to abuse. And, of course, some of our security forces were assassinated and killed. And the number of marchers on the security forces side and police side verified that our forces managed the scenes very carefully in order to differentiate protest from the tensions and riots. So, they were of course, they were attacked, as well, because rioters are totally different from protesters.

LESTER HOLT:

Mr. President, I’ve been out on the streets of of Tehran this trip. I was last here four years ago. I’ve seen many women now without head coverings on, and I wonder, “What threat do they pose to the Islamic Republic?”

EBRAHIM RAISI:

The issue of hijab or head cover, which has been in place and observed in Iran even before the victory of the Islamic Revolution in in Iran, for hundreds of years we have Muslim people who have who want to have a very dignified life. So, hijab or head cover not only before the victory of the Islamic Revolution but even hundreds of years ago, if you look at the life of the people, all the times they had dignified life, hijab or the head cover was with them, with the ladies and women of my country and different times of hijabs that the people had. So so, this was with the Iranian women.

Today, what is happening in France, they have officially announced that the Muslim girls are not allowed to enter into schools and university with Islamic covers. So, so, why is it happening against the Muslim French women? So, in comparison with what is happening in Islamic Republic of Iran, I can tell you that it is according to our Sharia.

It exists, hijab exists in our Islamic principles. And at the same time, it exists in our laws and regulations, and our people are committed. And most of the Iranian women today are observing hijab, the cover. They are observing the Islamic principles. And they believe that hijab is not only person for these person, for these lady, but his her mother and grandmothers have been all the times observing. Today, what is happening in the West, that is not a consent for wearing or not wearing hijab.

Today, the West or in the U.S. is intending to politicize this issue to impose pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran. They believe that this is a ground, when it come to gender or to cover, hijab, they can creates some polars in the country. They can impose pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran. I believe that they have been defeated in this area, and they will be defeated in future, as well.

LESTER HOLT:

I have other topics, but I want to ask one more question on this. If on Saturday, the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death, if there are protests to commemorate that date, would the security forces crack down in the same way?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

So, do you know that are are there going to be any protests in the country?

LESTER HOLT:

I don’t know. There are reports there are reports that the government has taken actions to quiet activists ahead of that date. Can you comment on that?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

You should be assured that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been ready to listen to words of protesters. On any issue, we are all ears. And those who intend to abuse Madam Amini’s name, under this pretext to be an agent of foreigners to create this instability in the country, we know what to would happen to them. And they know that endangering the security of people and security of society will create a big cost.                                       

LESTER HOLT:

Let me turn to the issue of the war in Ukraine, and Russia, and drones. Can you be as clear as you can about what Iran’s military relationship is with with Russia right now, especially as it pertains to drones, Iranian drones?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

We have connections with different countries: economic relations, trade relations. With Russia, we have trade and economic relations. We have defensive relations and defense cooperation. The claim which is made about Iran and delivery of military equipment, what like has been flowing from the U.S. to Ukraine, like the weakened uranium which is sent to Ukraine, the Islamic Republic of Iran, on di on different occasions, has stated that w we, before the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, we had defense cooperation in different defense sectors with Russia, in different trade and economic economic sectors. We had and we have no role in Russia-Ukraine War.  

We are against war, and we have always said that we stand ready to mediate in this regard to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine. We believe that those who are who sending weapons to Ukraine, they don’t want to see the end of the war.

When Mr. one time, Mr. Putin visited Iran, I asked him about his ideas about war. He told me that the U.S. was not interested in ending the war. They Mr. Putin told me that by U.S., by expanding the NATO to where it is, they start the war, and they are benefiting from the Ukraine War today.

Certainly and definitely, we are against war. And on different occasions, if there are any documents or proofs regarding the role of Iran and Iranian delivery of weaponaries to Ukraine, they should provide us. And even in Oman, we had a meeting. And, of course, we agreed that the other side would provide us with the documents regarding Iran’s role in delivery of the weaponaries. We have been waiting, but we have received no documents.                                                    

LESTER HOLT:

Ukraine claims it’s it’s shot down perhaps two dozen Iranian-made drones. They have recovered wreckage and linked it to Iran. Do you discount that, what what the U.S. calls I think, undeniable proof?

I have followed this issue. And I had some conversations with Eastern Europe co officials. I asked Ukraine if they have any documents they should provide with us. I sent a message, so, to provide us with the documents. We had a meeting in in a third country, in Oman. We had the meeting. They till now, they have failed in providing any documents with us regarding Iran’s role in delivery of the weaponaries to the Ukrainian war by Iran.

LESTER HOLT:

Do you think that President Putin has been weakened by the war in Ukraine?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

We should have a correct assessment of the war. This assessment requires of identifying the conditions correctly and to study the conditions of the U.S. and Europe countries in supporting Ukraine. So, we should have a comprehensive assessment in this regard. 

I believe that Americans intend to to sell their weaponaries in this regard and, at the same time, to realize their own objectives. And, in fact, the European countries are the victims in this regard, because the European people are suffering the highest. In winter, they are suffering the coldness, in hard winters. And w that they are receiving the highe highest suffering. So, I believe that it’s in favor of everyone to end this war as soon as possible. 

LESTER HOLT:

So, your official position remains neutral in this war?

EBRAHIM RAISI:

We believe that ending the war will be definitely serving the rise and benefits of people. The U.S. is intending to continue the war. And we believe that it does not serve the interests of none of the sides. It does not serve the benefits or interests of the European countries. And only continuous war would serve the interests of those who are selling their weaponaries. And these are the U.S. people that, through their tax money, weaponaries are provided to Ukraine and people are suffering.  

We believe that, as soon as possible, as swiftly, the Ukraine War should be ended and ending the war, we this war is very detrimental to the people and to the region. So, we believe that it should be ended as soon as possible.

LESTER HOLT:

Mr. President, Iran has resumed diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. If the Saudis were to normalize relations with Israel, which has been widely suggested, could you continue your relationship with the Saudis? 

EBRAHIM RAISI:

Iran and Saudi Arabia are two influential and key countries in the region. We are two Muslim countries. We can have excellent bilateral relations together. We believe that reestablishment of bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Ar Saudi Arabia can be expanded in different sectors. We we are against any bilateral relations between our regional countries and the Zionist regime. The Zi, we believe that the Zionist regime is intending to normalize this bilateral relations with the regional countries to create security for itself in the region. And normalization of bilateral relations with the Zionist regime Z of the Zionist regime with the regional country will not secu, create security for this regime. We believe that nations in our regions are, with every fiber of their being, hate the child-killing Zionist regime. They believe that the Zionist regime is doing unjust against the Palestinian people. 

LESTER HOLT:

Iran has just been invited to join an alliance, BRICS, as it’s known that includes countries Russia, China, I believe Brazil. How does that change Iran’s position on the world stage? What statement are you hoping will come from that inclusion in that group? 

EBRAHIM RAISI:

The U.S. and and, in fact, some of the European countries ha have been intending to isolate Iran, but they have failed. Iran has gained the membership of two important coalitions, one BRICS and secondly Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Iran’s membership to to BRIC to BRICS can consolidate BRICS, taking into account Iran’s significant position. And, at the same time, we can set good conditions for economic contacts between BRICS member states. BRICS comprises almost half of the world population, and a significant part of the world GDP is made by the BRICS member states. Today, BRICS is one of the newly emerging powers in the world. 

You as a media, and as a reporter or correspondent, and your media can say very easily that, today, world is not in favor of unilateralism. And you would verify that, today, multilateralism is supported in the world, and for sure, the unfair actions taken by the U.S. against different countries and nations in the world. 

So, they have forced different countries and nations to go after some newly emerging powers. We believe that the new global order is creating some new powers, including BRICS. BRICS, from the social-economic perspectives, is an influential group in the world. 

Shanghai Cooperation Organization is one of the newly emerging powers. They can enjoy very good position in the world. We should take them into account. And for sure, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s membership to BRICS would serve BRICS’ interests as well as our interests, and it would help all of us. 

LESTER HOLT:

President Raisi, we are out of time, I’m told, but I want to thank you for taking my questions. These are not easy issues, as you well know but I want to thank you for offering us this time. 

EBRAHIM RAISI:

At the same time, I would like to thank you.                                                       

LESTER HOLT:

Thank you.

Source: NBC News