Rouhani
Q&A All
Nuclear &
Syria, No
Afghanistan,
Yemen
or Bahrain
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 26
-- When
Iranian
president
Hassan Rouhani
held
an hour-long
press
conference
across the
street from
the UN on
September 26,
nearly all of
the questions
were about
Syria and the
P5+1 nuclear
negotiations.
No
questions were
asked or
allowed about
Iran's view
and actions in
such
countries as
Afghanistan,
Bahrain or
Yemen. The
same questions
were
asked again
and again,
with some
telling
variations.
IRIB
asked about
the
imprisonment
in Iran of the
Washington
Post's Jason
Rezaian -
then quickly
turned to
Iran's hauled
to the US.
(The Free
UN
Coalition for
Access
says, Free 'em
all.)
On
the nuclear
negotiations,
earlier on
September 26
Inner City
Press
asked
Russian
Foreign
Minister
Sergey Lavrov
about
their status.
Lavrov told
Inner City
Press, ““I
remain
cautiously
optimistic.
If we look at
the drafting
process of the
text, we're
very close to
our goal but
there are
sections
remaining. The
devil is in
the
details..We
still have
time until Nov
24, the
deadline for
the
negotiating
teams and
we'll do our
best to ensure
that remaining
issues are
resolved.”
Rouhani
said,
“after 12
years of up
and downs, we
must look
toward the
future and
make the
courageous
decisions on
this issue.
Iran will
never
surrender its
legal right to
civil nuclear
activity.”
Asked
if Iran would
oppose not
just Sunni but
also Shi'a
terrorists,
Rouhani shot
back that Iran
opposed the
Shi'ite MEK.
He emphasized
that Hezbollah
is in the
parliament in
Lebanon.
When
AP asked if
for nuclear
concessions
Iran would
“help the US”
against ISIL,
Rouhani said,
“You mean the
US helping
Iran?” He
said Iran was
the first to
assist Iraq
against ISIL.
Rouhani
told
one wan
questioner her
numbers were
“propaganda.”
Richard
Roth
of CNN asked
if Rouhani
would be
disappointed
if this year
on
the way to the
airport he
doesn't
receive a
telephone call
from
“Him.” Rouhani
said such
calls are not
important. But
will He
make the call?
Watch this
site.
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