By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
The Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran to South Africa, Shakib Mehr, has elected to give a weigh on the current state of the war between the US-Israeli Iran war since the ceasefire was announced and shared his insight on what the movement forward is for the two nations.
“Iran has very specific and clear conditions first is to stop the war, stop the aggression and promise not to repeat it and to give us the guarantee not to repeat it” said Mehr in an interview with salaammedia when asked what Iran expects from the negotiations with the United States
“Remove all the sanctions that they imposed, primary and secondary sanctions. Ceasefire should apply to all the countries in the region such as Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Iraq not only Iran” Mehr continued.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire will take place for two-weeks in order to allow negotiations between Iran and the United States to happen seamlessly.
The negotiations will also depend on whether Iran can also not engage in any attacking or aggression of any nature and to fully open the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping traffic to resume, however Iran has emphasised that they still hold “dominion” over the waterway.
“We don’t have any trust in Trump and his administration, but we do have trust in our friends in the region such as Pakistan and the other mediators through their promise and their guarantee we accept a ceasefire” said Mehr in his interview.
Since the United States and Iran have opted to engage in a two-week negotiation period in order to reach a permanent settlement, the price of a barrel of oil has dropped below the $100 mark for the first time since the beginning of this war which has caused US stocks to soar.
Despite how the negotiations will proceed and given that there is a settlement reach, this conflict has caused many eyes to look differently towards the United States due to Trump’s relentless quest to shock the foundations of international relations and cooperation.
“Iran relies on its own power, its own people and its own capabilities. After the revolution they (US) used all the ways to undermine Iran, to defeat Iran, they imposed 8 years of war, they imposed lots of restrictions against Iran on baseless accusations for example they say that Iran is looking for nuclear arms” Mehr said further in his interview.
The long-term effects, the steadiness of the negotiation process and the war overall will continue to be assessed.