Iran Parliament Criticizes Blinken Plan on Nuclear Deal

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)
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Iran Parliament Criticizes Blinken Plan on Nuclear Deal

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Sunday described US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent remarks on Tehran as “disappointing.”

“If the US believes in the nuclear deal, it should display its commitment to it in practice instead of setting preconditions,” the Speaker said, addressing an open session of the parliament in Tehran.

Last week, Blinken said that President Joe Biden has been very clear in saying that if Iran comes back to compliance with obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, the United States would do the same thing.

However, Qalibaf said Tehran is waiting for the Biden government’s practical measures to lift sanctions rather than speaking of preconditions.

Iran and the new US administration have issuing statements on conditions demanding the other party to take the first step in returning to the nuclear deal, which Washington unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.

During a visit to the Fordow nuclear plant on January 28, Qalibaf said the country has produced 17 kilograms of 20 percent-enriched uranium within a month.

Referring to his visit to the site, the speaker said Sunday he was happy that the centrifuges are rotating once again.

“With the centrifuges now rotating with 20% uranium enrichment, the country’s foreign diplomacy has a full hand in any future negotiations,” he said.

In December, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the country is in no hurry to see the United States return to the nuclear deal.

Last week, Blinken criticized Iran of being out of compliance on a number of fronts.

“And it would take some time, should it make the decision to do so, for it to come back into compliance and time for us then to assess whether it was meeting its obligations," the US Secretary of State told a news conference.



Philippines, US Test Air Defenses as China Seizes Reef

(FILES) This handout photo taken on March 21, 2024 and received from the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR) shows an aerial view of Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
(FILES) This handout photo taken on March 21, 2024 and received from the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR) shows an aerial view of Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
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Philippines, US Test Air Defenses as China Seizes Reef

(FILES) This handout photo taken on March 21, 2024 and received from the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR) shows an aerial view of Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
(FILES) This handout photo taken on March 21, 2024 and received from the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR) shows an aerial view of Philippine scientists inspecting Sandy Cay reef, near the Philippine-held Thitu Island, in Spratly Islands, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Photo by Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

Missiles fired off the coast of the northern Philippines Sunday as US and Filipino forces conducted their first integrated defense drills, hours after China said it had seized control of a reef claimed by Manila.

The Philippines and China have been engaged in months of confrontations over the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

As many as 17,000 personnel are participating in the annual "Balikatan" exercises, which this year will simulate a "full-scale battle scenario" as the treaty allies seek to deter China's ambitions in the disputed waterway, AFP reported.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday reported that the country's coast guard had "implemented maritime control" over Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, this month.

The tiny sandbank, part of the Spratly Islands, lies near Thitu Island, also called Pag-asa and site of a Philippine military facility.

The Philippine government has yet to formally respond to the claim.

In coastal Zambales province, hours north of the capital Manila, AFP journalists watched Sunday as the US Marine Corp's new MADIS short-range air defense system knocked a pair of drones from the sky.

The coastal defense exercise saw MADIS work in concert with the Philippines' SPYDER missile system, defending it from drone attack as it targeted simulated incoming cruise missiles.

"MADIS is short-range. SPYDER is more of a medium-range capability (and they) both engaged different threats," said Matthew Sladek, commander of the US 3rd Littoral Anti-Air Battalion.

"The more we work together, that only ... enhances our collective lethality."

Chinese warships have been spotted in waters near the Philippines since the Balikatan exercises kicked off last week.

The aircraft carrier Shandong on April 22 "was detected underway 2.23 nautical miles (about four kilometers) southwest" of the Philippines' far northern Babuyan Island, the navy reported.

On Sunday, the Philippine Navy said three other vessels had been spotted a day before about 60 kilometers from Zambales.

US defense secretary Pete Hegseth last month told an audience in Manila that the United States was "doubling down" on its alliance with the country, noting the necessity of deterrence "considering the threats from the Communist Chinese".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun has since slammed the Balikatan exercises as a blow to regional stability.

On Monday, Balikatan will continue with troops simulating defending against an enemy landing force along a stretch of southern Palawan island.