Raisi Ready for Vienna Talks But Without Examining Regional Influence, Ballistic Missile Program

 Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)
Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)
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Raisi Ready for Vienna Talks But Without Examining Regional Influence, Ballistic Missile Program

 Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)
Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)

The new Raisi administration in Iran is preparing to return to nuclear talks without the thought of presenting any concessions that would encourage Washington to extend or expand the deal so that it tackles the cleric-led country’s ballistic missiles program and regional interferences.

On Sunday, Tehran lawmaker Esmaeil Kousari said that under President Ebrahim Raisi, the new government will continue “holding negotiations” but “without giving any compromises.”

“If nuclear weapons are bad, they should be considered as bad for all countries, including the US,” said Kousari, who is also a prominent figure from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

“They tell us to quit our influence in the region and not to have missiles(…) If it were decided for us not to have these missiles, then they must not have them either,” argued Kousari in a statement to government website “Asr Iran.”

Kousari moved on to clarify that halting nuclear talks is not planned and stressed that “negotiations will take place.”

“However, if they don’t want to treat us fairly, we won’t accept,” said the legislator.

Kousari’s statements come when parliament is looking to deliberate over the cabinet list submitted by Raisi, which introduces Hossein Amir Abdollahian, a diplomat who is close to the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, as Iran’s next foreign minister.

Before Raisi named Abdollahian as his pick for foreign minister, the veteran diplomat had held a two-hour discussion session with the EU point man on the Vienna nuclear talks, Enrique Mora. The session was held on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of Raisi.

After meeting Mora, Abdollahian tweeted that “negotiating with the US was never forbidden, but that the problem rather lies in the US’ bullying.”

Abdollahian also emphasized that “timing and force” are the two main pillars of any diplomatic negotiation.

In his tweet, the Foreign Minister-designate attached a photo from the 2006-2007 rare US-Iran talks over the war in Iraq.



China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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China’s Foreign Minister Warns Philippines over US Missile Deployment

 China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the 14th EAST Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at the National Convention Center, in Vientiane, Laos July 27, 2024. (Reuters)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned the Philippines over the US intermediate-range missile deployment, saying such a move could fuel regional tensions and spark an arms race.

The United States deployed its Typhon missile system to the Philippines as part of joint military drills earlier this year. It was not fired during the exercises, a Philippine military official later said, without giving details on how long it would stay in the country.

China-Philippines relations are now at a crossroads and dialogue and consultation are the right way, Wang told the Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo on Friday during a meeting in Vientiane, the capital of Laos where top diplomats of world powers have gathered ahead of two summits.

Wang said relations between the countries are facing challenges because the Philippines has "repeatedly violated the consensus of both sides and its own commitments", according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

"If the Philippines introduces the US intermediate-range missile system, it will create tension and confrontation in the region and trigger an arms race, which is completely not in line with the interests and wishes of the Filipino people," Wang said.

The Philippines' military and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wang's remarks.

China and the Philippines are locked in a confrontation in the South China Sea and their encounters have grown more tense as Beijing presses its claims to disputed shoals in waters within Manila's its exclusive economic zone.

Wang said China has recently reached a temporary arrangement with the Philippines on the transportation and replenishment of humanitarian supplies to Ren'ai Jiao in order to maintain the stability of the maritime situation, referring to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine vessels on Saturday successfully completed their latest mission to the shoal unimpeded, its foreign ministry said in a statement.