TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's new reformist president insisted Monday that Tehran didn't want to enrich uranium at near-weapons grade levels but had been forced to by the U.S. withdrawal from its nuclear deal with world powers.
The comments by President Masoud Pezeshkian, in response to a question by The Associated Press at his first news conference, underlines a campaign promise he made to try to see international sanctions on the Islamic Republic lifted. However, it remains unclear just how much room for negotiation Pezeshkian will have — and just who will be in the White House come next year.
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's new reformist president insisted Monday that Tehran didn't want to enrich uranium at near-weapons grade levels but had been forced to by the U.S. withdrawal from its nuclear deal with world powers.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sits as he arrives at his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian listens to a question during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
“I think, we said many times, we don’t want to do this at all. We want to solve our technical and scientific needs, we are not looking for nuclear weapons," Pezeshkian said. “We adhered to the framework written in the (nuclear deal). We are still looking to maintain those frameworks. They tore them, they forced us to do something.”
He added: “If they don’t continue, we will not continue,”
Pezeshkian's comments came as Iran enriches uranium up to 60% purity, which is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Iran had a military nuclear program up until 2003.
Iran's supreme leader, the 85-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has opened the door to possible negotiations by earlier telling its civilian government there was “no harm” in engaging with its “enemy.” There have been indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. in recent years mediated by Oman and Qatar, two of Washington's Middle East interlocutors when it comes to Iran.
Pezeshkian’s new foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also was deeply involved in negotiating the 2015 deal.
Pezeshkian, asked if he'd meet or talk with U.S. President Joe Biden or whoever wins the November election, said that Washington should return to the nuclear deal first, then “we will talk, there is no dispute”.
“They have blocked all roads to us”, Pezeshkian said. “They should show that they have no enmity towards us. We have no enmity toward them.”
Pezeshkian urged the U.S. not to threaten Iran with its regional military bases or impose sanctions on the country.
“Otherwise, we are a brother with them," he said.
Meanwhile, tensions between Iran and Israel have hit a new high during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Tehran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel in April. A shadow war between the two countries over the years reached a climax with Israel’s apparent attack on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed two Iranian generals and others.
The July assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, also prompted Iran to threaten to retaliate against Israel.
Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said that Iran wouldn't give up its ballistic missile arsenal “unless all are disarmed in our region.” He made a point to say that Israel should disarm after earlier criticizing its conduct in the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
"We need military power for the security of our people and country," he said. “We will not lose our defense power unless all are disarmed in our region. If America also respects our rights, we have no dispute. Do not sanction or threaten us, we will not be threatened.”
Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian walks towards the podium at his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sits as he arrives at his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian listens to a question during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
SRINAGAR, India (AP) — A three-phased election for choosing a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir opened Wednesday in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.
Authorities deployed thousands of additional police and paramilitary soldiers in the region’s seven southern districts where over 2.3 million residents are eligible to cast their votes and chose 24 lawmakers out of 219 candidates in the first phase of the polling.
Wearing riot gears and carrying assault rifles, troops set up checkpoints and patrolled the constituencies in the districts as locals lined up to cast their votes in villages and towns.
The second and third phases are scheduled for Sept. 25 and Oct. 1 in a process that is staggered to allow troops to move around to stop potential violence. Votes will be counted on Oct. 8, with results expected that day.
For the first time, authorities limited access of foreign media to polling stations and denied press credentials to most journalists working with international media, including to The Associated Press, without citing any reason.
India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
The vote is the first in a decade, and the first since Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in 2019 scrapped the Muslim-majority region’s semi-autonomy, downgraded the former state to a federally governed territory and stripped its separate constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs. It was also divided into two federal territories, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir, ruled directly by New Delhi, allowing it to appoint administrators to run the territories along unelected bureaucrats and security personnel.
Many people said they knew their votes won’t solve the dispute over Kashmir, but provided a rare window to express their frustration with direct Indian control.
Aamir Ahmed, a first-time voter in Pulwama town, said it was important to elect a local representative “who does not condone wrongdoing.”
“We have witnessed a lot of suffering in the last 10 years,” Ahmed said.
Another voter, 80-year-old farmer Ali Mohammad Alai, said he had been “reduced to penury by the Modi government” after authorities took away his land given to him decades ago for cultivation by the local administration. “All I want is to get that land back,” he said. “Our own government can do that.”
People in the Kashmir Valley had layered rights to use of land since reforms in the 1950s that mainly gave Muslim farmers possession of land they tilled for the minority Hindu rulers and its elite. Some of those rights were rescinded after 2019 changes.
Long lines of voters stretched around some polling booths as the day progressed. The region's chief electoral officer said about 41% turnout was recorded as of 1 p.m.
In Kishtwar town, multiple voters said they hoped the polling would culminate in a government that cared about economic development and addressed their main issues. “Be it BJP or some other party or a coalition, we urgently want development and better life. Politics can wait,” said Chander Jeet Sharma, 49.
The multistage election will allow Kashmir to have its own truncated government and a local legislature, called an assembly, instead of remaining under New Delhi’s direct rule. A chief minister will head a council of ministers in the government.
However, there will be a limited transition of power from New Delhi to the local assembly as Kashmir will continue to be a “Union Territory” — directly controlled by the federal government — with India’s Parliament remaining its main legislator. The elected government will have partial control over areas like education, culture and taxation but not over the police. Kashmir’s statehood must be restored for the new government to have powers similar to other states of India.
Multiple local parties have campaigned on promises to fight for reversal of 2019 changes and address other key issues like rising unemployment and inflation in the region where locals have struggled amid curtailed civil liberties particularly after the revocation of the special status.
India's ruling BJP, however, has vowed to block any move aimed at undoing those changes but promised to help in the region’s economic development.
The region’s last assembly election was held in 2014, after which Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for the first time ruled in a coalition with the local Peoples Democratic Party. But the government collapsed in 2018, after BJP withdrew from the coalition.
Polls in the past have been marked with violence, boycotts and vote-rigging, even though India called them a victory over separatism.
Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard as people queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Naira, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
People queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Bellow, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
People queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Naira, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard as people queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Bellow, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Muslim women arrive for cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard as people queue up to vote during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Muslim women voter queue up to cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
People help an elderly woman in a wheel chair down a ramp after she cast her vote during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
People queue up to cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Muslim women voter queue up to cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Muslim women voter queue up to cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Women voters queue up to cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Muslim women voter queue up to cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Women voters queue up to cast their vote at a polling booth during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
A woman shows the indelible ink mark on her finger after casting her vote during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard as people queue up to vote during the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election, in Kishtwar, India, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Kashmiri women queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Kashmiri's queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
A Kashmiri man walks back after casting his vote at a polling booth in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard as Kashmiri's queue up at a polling booth to cast their vote in Marval, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Polling officials carry electronic voting machines and other election material to a venue for distribution, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldier guard a venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Former union minster and star campaigner of BJP Anurag Thakur and state in charge Ram Madhav wave to supporters during a campaign rally, after party candidates filed the nomination papers for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections at Nagrota outskirts of Jammu, India, Thursday, Sep.12, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Supporters of India's opposition Congress party, wave during an election rally at Dooru some 78 kilometers (49 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir,Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan, File)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party workers attend a rally, ahead of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections in Jammu, India, Saturday Sep.7, 2024.(AP Photo/Channi Anand, File)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive to guard outside the venue for distribution of election material, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Indian paramilitary soldier guard as polling officials carry electronic voting machines and other election material to a venue for distribution, in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
Security personnel members stand and wait as polling officials prepare to leave for their respective polling booths on the eve of the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, in Ramban 150 kilometers (94 miles) northeast of Jammu, India, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Polling officials carry electronic voting machines and other election material to a venue for distribution, in Pulwama south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
