Pres. Rouhani: Saudi Arabia, Israel key factors in influencing US to exit JCPOA, mounting pressures

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Iran's President described the nature of insurance as something to spread security in the society, saying, "The insurance industry and its performance must be in such a way that people feel safe".

Speaking on Wednesday at the 26th Insurance and Development Conference, which is held under the theme of "Increasing the Influence Rate of Insurance; Challenges and Solutions", President Hassan Rouhani said that all the 11th and 12th Governments have been trying to do was to reduce the risk to the least.

"The reality is that the nature of insurance is actually spreading security in the society," the president said, adding that the insurance industry looks more economic and financial.

Dr Rouhani said, "Insurance wants to help people in difficult times, including producers, farmers, craftsmen and entrepreneurs, as well as those who have a workshop and shop, or ordinary people".

The President noted, "Insurance wants to tell people that you are not alone in hardships and problems and that there is someone with the name of the insurance industry to help you".

Dr Rouhani added, "The performance of the insurance industry and its related companies should be such that people feel at ease and that if there is an accident or incident, their problem will be resolved in a short time."

Referring to the necessity of swift action to recompense people's losses, the President said, "Taking quick action and eliminating bureaucracy in the path of recompense are in fact the main meaning of security, and social security means to provide security and peace to people".

"Iran is a country that faces specific risks, and in the past 41 years, we have been under the pressure of sanctions, especially in the last two years," he said.

The President continued, "When the 11th government took office, the country was under sanctions backed by the UN and we were allowed to sell only one million barrels of oil that year, which was decreasing by 20% each year".

Dr Rouhani added, "The first step the government took was to eliminate this 20% drop in oil sales. This means that during the early stages of the negotiations, it was agreed that Iran's oil exports must not decrease as a precondition to continuing the negotiation process."

The President continued, "The second step was that we believed that a higher level of negotiation was needed to resolve this issue, and for the first time after the Revolution, meetings and negotiations between the Iranian Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State were held in 2013".

Dr Rouhani pointed out, "My advisors and accompanying delegation on the New York visit convinced me that it would be better to take the US President's phone call for negotiations to proceed, and that was something I doubted, but when all the advisors agreed unanimously, I agreed".

"At the last minute I was in New York, the President of the United States contacted me at the hotel and I answered his phone call and it took about 20 minutes, which was a very powerful locomotive for the negotiation train."

The President noted, "In that telephone conversation, we outlined the framework of the negotiations and the US President raised three issues for negotiation and I said that we were not ready for negotiation on those issues, but if the first issue, which was the nuclear issue, would work well, then the second and third issues can be on the agenda".

Dr Rouhani said, "This led to the Geneva Interim Agreement being reached in less than 100 days, which temporarily lifted sanctions in many areas, including receiving the money the was frozen in American banks by $700 million a month".

The president said that one of the achievements of the Geneva Agreement was that Iran's right to enrichment was recognised, saying, "This was the most significant achievement in the negotiations in less than 100 days. No one, even government advisors, could believe that we could have the 6 major world powers admit Iran has the right to enrichment in its own country, contrary to what was stated in the UN resolutions".

"In the next round of negotiations, the goal was to remove all UNSC Chapter-VII resolutions against Iran, which happened in a short time under Resolution 2231," said the President

He continued, "After the JCPOA was struck, the insurance industry flourished and we were linked to world insurance companies".

After the JCPOA's implementation, an extensive investment began in the country, "One of the major Asian leaders told me that they were beginning to envy Iran by seeing that so many investors and banks were pouring into Tehran".

"We said that if one day this agreement would be violated, it would not be by us, because we are Muslims and live up to our commitment as the Quran says," he continued.

Dr Rouhani also went on to say, "We could reach the final agreement in 2014, but it was postponed until 2015 and this was because of the pressures of the Zionists and Saudi Arabia, for which even the Saudi foreign minister and the Zionist Regimes' prime minister visited Vienna to put off the agreement".

"It was in that postponement that they assured the United States that they would decrease the oil price so much that Iran would be forced to sign anything that the US demands".

Stating that this decreased the price of oil from $104 to around $50 and at some stages to under $30, he continued, "Despite what the enemies of the Iranian nation thought, our country's economic growth rate increased".

He continued, "Saudi Arabia and the Zionist Regime were the key factors in influencing the US to withdraw from the JCPOA and mounting pressures against Iran".

Not negotiating is detrimental to the entire world, region and Iranian nation, he said, adding, "I knew that when I took the US President's phone call, after getting back to Tehran some hardliners would throw shoes at me, but I did not care, and what was important was fulfilling the promise I had made to the people".

"At that time, the Zionist Regime and Saudi Arabia and US hardliners tricked Trump in withdrawing from the deal and impose sanctions on Iran," he said.

The President continued, "Trump wanted to act like what Reagan did towards the former Soviet Union, but he didn't know that the Iranian nation, society, culture, young people, entrepreneurs and authorities defend their independence and dignity no matter what".

"It should be recorded in history that Iran signed an agreement with 6 major world powers, and they violated it, but it was not us who violated it, and we are still living up to it," he said.

Dr Rouhani continued, "American wanted to transfer the burden that was on its shoulder to Iran. We wanted to foil this plot and tell the entire world that we have no problem with negotiating and meeting".

He referred to his latest visit to New York and added, "We announced that if the Americans lift all sanctions, we can have a meeting an hour later, because all P5+1 leaders were there, but they wanted the meeting to happen first and then lift the sanctions".

"I hereby announce that whenever the United States is ready to lift all illegal, unjust and terrorist sanctions, Iran and P5+1 leaders will meet right away, and we have no problem in this regard," he said.

Stating that in these conditions, the insurance industry has a great responsibility, President Rouhani said, "Normally, sanctions pose risks and contribute to abnormal conditions in export, import and investment".

Referring to the importance of the insurance industry, he said, "Insurance going under unjust US sanctions highlights the importance of the industry".

"I hope that the day of celebrating the insurance industry brings a new spirit to all those involved in serving people," added Rouhani.

He added, "Today, we are under sanctions that we are not the one to blame for, but they were imposed because of the Zionists and the regional reactionaries".

Dr Rouhani continued, "We have no way except resistance, but we haven't closed the door of negotiation"

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