Iran president: People of Ukraine falling victim to evil policies of US

Iran’s President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi says the people of Ukraine have fallen victim to the United States’ evil policies, reiterating the Islamic Republic’s opposition to war.

According to Press TV, Raeisi made the remarks in a Sunday address at a cabinet meeting, during which he touched on a host of issues, including regional developments and the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine.

“The people of Ukraine, like the people of Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq, have fallen victim to the United States’ evil policies,” Iran’s president said.

Raeisi added, “As declared by Leader [of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei], the Islamic Republic of Iran is definitively opposed to war and the sooner this war ends, it will be to benefit of the region and nations and it will do less harm to and cause less problems for people.”

Speaking in a televised speech on Tuesday, Ayatollah Khamenei blamed the American regime for the current Ukraine crisis, and demanded an end to the war in Ukraine, saying the Islamic Republic of Iran has always opposed war and destruction anywhere in the world.

“The US disrupted the stability of the country by interfering in its affairs and organizing rallies and creating a color coup,” he said, adding, “We oppose the killing of people and the destruction of the infrastructure of nations.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Raeisi outlined the latest developments regarding the ongoing talks with the P4+1 group of countries in the Austrian capital of Vienna aimed at securing a revival of the 2015 Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran after Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the landmark agreement.

"[Iran's] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the negotiating team are pursuing the negotiations with diligence, but the administration does not and will not tie any [of its] moves to the talks and the JCPOA," the president said.

He added that the JCPOA does not constitute the entire foreign policy of Iran but is one of its subjects.

Raeisi added that the secret of his administration's success over the last six months was that it "vigorously pursued all matters, including issues related to foreign policy, the banking system and oil [sales], and did not make any of them conditional on the JCPOA or a possible agreement in the Vienna talks."

ME