US Secretary of State: Iran is not Interested in Being Responsible

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (Reuters)
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US Secretary of State: Iran is not Interested in Being Responsible

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said there is no "evidence of an Iran that is interested in actually being a responsible actor."

"Just this past week we saw them remove IAEA inspectors who are critical to doing the work at the IAEA to - as best you can - ensure that Iran is consistent with whatever obligations it has," he said.

"That is not evidence of an Iran that is interested in actually being a responsible actor."

Iran barred multiple International Atomic Energy (IAEA) inspectors assigned to the country.

Blinken clarified on Saturday that Iran's nuclear activities significantly destabilize the region and pose threats to countries in the area and beyond.

The Secretary said that the Biden administration is determined to prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon, believing diplomacy is the most effective route.

"We tried to work indirectly with Iran as well as with European partners and even Russia and China to see if we can get a return to compliance with the Iran nuclear deal ... But Iran couldn't or wouldn't do that," Blinken told reporters.

Later, the European Union's foreign coordinator, Enrique Mora, announced that he met with Iran, Europe, and the US officials regarding the negotiations that have been at an impasse since last year.

Mora wrote on his "X" account: “As customary, JCPOA was in the margins of the UN General Assembly 2023 week. I met Bagheri Kani, US Envoy in Iran, and European diplomats."

He referred to the EU policy that can only be reached through a comprehensive deal on concrete, fully verifiable nuclear limitations on Iran's nuclear program.

The Spanish diplomat added that substantial IAEA monitoring, comprehensive sanctions lifting, and provisions on nuclear cooperation allow Iran to have a solid, transparent atomic industry, including research, has been fully vindicated.

"You can call it JCPOA or the best deal ever, but there's no alternative."

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, told official Iranian television on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York that the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal will be "within reach" if the US stops its "contradictory behaviors."

Amir-Abdollahian noted that he met with members of a US think tank and several former US officials in New York to explicitly discuss bilateral issues, one of which was Washington's "wrong" approach toward Iran and the JCPOA.

The minister met Saturday his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom, on the sidelines of the General Assembly, marking their first official encounter following prolonged diplomatic tensions between Stockholm and Tehran.

Relations between Iran and Sweden are tense after Tehran detained Swedish citizens in Iran and executed one of them.

Weeks before the General Assembly, news leaked of the detention of a Swedish diplomat, who has been working for the European Union, held in Tehran for over 500 days.

Tensions escalated as Tehran intensified its criticisms of Sweden following an incident where an extremist Iraqi immigrant burned a copy of the Quran.

Amir-Abdollahian also discussed enhancing bilateral relations with his South Korean counterpart, Chung Eui-yong, mainly after Seoul transferred frozen Iranian assets under the US-Iran prisoner exchange deal conducted last week.

The South Korean foreign ministry announced that the two diplomats agreed to push bilateral relations to broader horizons through high-level communications.

Both ministers acknowledged the smooth execution of the recent transfer of Tehran's frozen funds in Seoul to a third country.



Türkiye Releases Over 120 People Charged with Taking Part in Protests

09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Türkiye Releases Over 120 People Charged with Taking Part in Protests

09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Türkiye, Sisli: Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu shout slogans during a rally to protest against his arrest in front of the Sisli Municipality in Istanbul. Photo: Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Türkiye on Thursday freed more than 120 people detained during last month's mass anti-government protests.
Courts in Istanbul released on bail 127 defendants, most of them university students, who were arrested at their homes on March 24 after taking part in demonstrations sparked by the jailing of the city’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, The Associated Press reported.
Imamoglu, who was arrested on March 19 on corruption and terrorism charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule.
More than 2,000 people were detained for taking part in the country’s largest mass demonstrations in more than a decade. Of those, some 300 were jailed awaiting trial.
Those freed on Thursday are charged with participating in banned protests. One court released 102 suspects, many of them students with upcoming exams, after considering the time they had spent in prison, the low risk of absconding and on condition of not traveling abroad. A separate court released a further 25 people on condition that they report to police regularly.
The releases follow a campaign by parents to have their children set free, with many holding daily vigils outside a prison in Silivri, west of Istanbul.
Among those released was prominent demonstrator Berkay Gezgin, a 22-year-old student who met Imamoglu on the campaign trail in 2019 and coined the slogan “Everything will be fine,” which the Istanbul mayor later used in his campaign.
The defendants’ cases will be heard in June and September at Istanbul’s Caglayan Courthouse.