Iran does not seek nuclear weapons: Pezeshkian

New York, Sep 25 (IANS) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told the UN General Assembly that his country does not seek nuclear weapons.

"I hereby declare once more, before this assembly, that Iran has never sought and will never seek to build a nuclear bomb," he told the General Debate of the General Assembly on Wednesday (local time). "We do not seek nuclear weapons. This is our belief based on the edict issued by the Supreme Leader and by religious authorities. Therefore, we never sought weapons of mass destruction, nor will we ever seek them."

Pezeshkian said the attempts by the three European countries of Britain, France and Germany, which are parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, to reinstate UN sanctions against Iran are illegitimate, reports Xinhua news agency.

The three countries, known as the E3, claimed that they triggered the snapback mechanism provided for in the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by notifying the Security Council of Tehran's "non-performance" on August 28.

However, the legality of the E3 move has been questioned as it skipped the Dispute Resolution Mechanism (DRM) provided for in the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, which endorsed the deal.

Under the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, the DRM has 35 days to resolve the disagreement. A snapback can be triggered only after the DRM fails to resolve the issue.

Earlier in the day, Pezeshkian and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, held talks over Tehran's nuclear issue and bilateral relations.

Pezeshkian stressed that Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, voicing the country's readiness to hold talks with the European sides on its nuclear issue within an "acceptable" framework.

Macron, for his part, expressed his country's readiness to work towards preventing the escalation of the situation, reports Xinhua news agency.

He underlined France's determination to resolve issues in its relations with Iran, noting that Paris was willing to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East and prevent the eruption of conflicts.

The two presidents reviewed bilateral ties and expressed hope that, with the resolution of differences between Iran and France in the future, the necessary groundwork would be laid for the expansion of bilateral relations and cooperation, according to the statement.

--IANS

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