Iran ready for peace negotiation but first Israeli action should be condemned, says diplomat Hosseini
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Asserting that Iran is always in favour of peace and security, a senior Iranian diplomat on Wednesday said Tehran is "ready" for any peace negotiation but with a condition that Israeli military action should first be "condemned".In an interaction with PTI Videos here, Iran's Deputy Chief of Mission to India Mohammad Javad Hosseini also said Americans should "put pressure" and bring the other side back to the negotiating table.On the evacuation of Indian nationals in Iran, he said his country has a very "good connection" with the Indian Embassy, and will ensure safe evacuation of Indian nationals, including students, "who are willing to leave the country"."We try to protect all foreign nationals," he added.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said that Indian students in Tehran "have been moved out of the city for reasons of safety, through arrangements made by the Embassy".Hosseini during the interaction alleged, "We are attacked by the Israeli regime on the pretext of some baseless allegations.""We actually tried to resort to the UN charter, as a self-defence, and retaliated," he added.Iranian capital Tehran is under a fierce Israeli blitz which seeks to destroy Iran's nuclear programme and its ballistic missile capabilities.Under Operation Rising Lion , Israel has conducted multiple strikes on the territory of Iran, with Tehran also returning fire after warning Tel Aviv.Israel's Ambassador to India Reuven Azar on Tuesday said that Israel took the military action to "severely degrade" Iran's nuclear programme and ballistic missile capabilities, claiming it posed a "threat" to his country. He said Israel is targeting Iran's military sites to degrade its capabilities.Hosseini said during this month, Iran "showed that we are capable of defending our country, our people, including foreign nationals", and alleged that Israel's military action has targeted non-military sites too.On evacuation of Indian nationals, he said, "Indians are our friends, other countries who are interested in safety of their nationals, should condemn these kinds of aggression, which can make Israelis to stop it, to save live of innocent civilians in Iran, of Iranians or other nationals."As the situation continued to escalate in West Asia, the Iranian diplomat said, "Iran is always in favour of peace and security" and that Tehran "welcomes any initiation in the region regarding stability"."We are ready for any peace negotiation, of course conditional that first Israel should be condemned, for its action, and whatever it has done," he added.Asked about the role they feel India can play to de-escalate the situation, Hosseini said, "We expect India, as a friendly and brotherly country, in a collective action with the international community will put pressure" on the Israeli regime, to halt the hostilities."We expect India, in collaboration with other countries...to actively engage in these matters," he added.On its air defence system, the Iranian diplomat said, "We are using our own system for defending... We could intercept many of these attacks. We, in self-defence, are defending our people and installations, and have targeted their military facilities."
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