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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)--Following is the Iran portion of a transcript of Monday's press briefing by State Department spokesman Ian Kelly:
QUESTION: The Secretary of State in May said that the Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua.
MR. KELLY: Yeah.
QUESTION: And today, The Washington Post published a story as quoting some Nicaraguan official saying there is no such an embassy, there is no such project, and that the Iranian influence – in Latin America has been largely overestimated. So I wanted to know how the Secretary could be so wrongly informed about the embassy, that --
MR. KELLY: Well, I think what we can say is that right now, there is no major Iranian presence in Nicaragua. Regarding their plans for a larger diplomatic presence, I mean, that would really be something that would be for the Iranian Government to address.
We, of course, respect the sovereign right of every country to determine the size of their diplomatic missions. We would always hope that the size of the mission would reflect the bilateral interests in that country. We also would expect that countries would recognize in their dealings with Iran that Iran has certain obligations to the international community, especially regarding its plans to develop nuclear weapons and also its support for terrorism. So we would hope that in any of the bilateral dealings that they would have with Iran that they would stress these important issues. But --
QUESTION: But before saying to us that the Iranians are building this embassy, did the Secretary consult the Embassy, the U.S. Embassy, in Managua to check?
MR. KELLY: She does consult via Assistant Secretary Shannon, and – but what – I mean, who exactly she consulted with in May, I’m not sure.
QUESTION: And is the Iranian influence in Latin America even – it overestimated?
MR. KELLY: Is it overestimated?
QUESTION: Mm-hmm.
MR. KELLY: Compared to what?
QUESTION: Do you think you evaluate correctly the influence of Iran in Latin America?
MR. KELLY: I’m not sure I could answer that question, Sylvie. I do know that we are concerned about Iranian activities in the past in Latin America, their possible involvement in some terrorist activities in the past. But as I said before, it’s a sovereign right of every country to determine their diplomatic presence.
QUESTION: Same thing?
MR. KELLY: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: Same subject. Iran is reportedly coming up with some new nuclear proposals. Is that something that you’re aware of?
MR. KELLY: I’ve seen the media reports on that, but I don’t have any firm information about any specific overtures.
QUESTION: And one more. Do you have – has the United States made any specific representation, perhaps third-party, in the case of the Newsweek correspondent who has been imprisoned in Iran for several weeks?
MR. KELLY: Well, as you know, we don’t have an embassy there, so it would be difficult for us to make a diplomatic representation on his behalf. But – and I saw the very
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compelling article in the pages of The Washington Post today, and I would just say that we are deeply concerned by any harassment, intimidation, and imprisonment of
journalists on groundless charges. And I don’t know the specifics of this case, but of course, Newsweek believes that he was doing nothing contrary to his journalistic mission. And this kind – that kind of harassment is unacceptable.
QUESTION: Do you have any update at all on the Iranian American scholar who was detained last week?
MR. KELLY: Yes, I do, if you’ll just wait a moment. Yes, we’re deeply concerned of reports that an Iranian American scholar has been unjustly detained in Iran. Due to Privacy Act considerations, we’re not able to comment on the details of his arrest and imprisonment. It’s unfortunate that the Iranian Government is making choices that only serve to isolate Iran from the international community. We urge the Iranian authorities to immediately release Kian Tajbakhsh as well as return the passports of all Americans being kept in Iran on groundless charges. This includes Esha Momeni, who has been banned from departing Iran since her release from Evin prison in November of 2008. And we additionally call again on Iran to be forthcoming with information toward determining the whereabouts of Robert Levinson, who’s been missing in Iran since March 8th, 2007. And we, of course, here at the State Department and across the U.S. Government is committed to making every effort to reunite these American citizens with their families.
QUESTION: How many American citizens are we talking about here whose U.S. passports have been confiscated by the Iranian authorities?
MR. KELLY: Besides the Iranian American scholar who’s been detained, and I assume they’ve confiscated his passport, the only other information I have here is about Esha Momeni. But if there are others, I’m not sure of the exact number.
QUESTION: Okay. Could you check --
MR. KELLY: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- if it’s just those two or if it’s more than two?
MR. KELLY: Yeah, we’ll see if there’s more than two.
QUESTION: And have you – even though you don’t have a U.S. embassy there, obviously you have a protecting power.
MR. KELLY: Yeah.
QUESTION: Have you asked the Swiss to raise this matter with the Iranians?
MR. KELLY: We have. And we’ve also asked our Swiss protecting power to go in and get consular access to --
QUESTION: Mr. Tajbakhsh.
MR. KELLY: To Mr. – is it Tajbacksh or Taibarbakhsh?
QUESTION: Tajbakhsh.
MR. KELLY: Tajbakhsh.
QUESTION: Tajbakhsh.
MR. KELLY: Tajbakhsh.
QUESTION: And has – have they succeeded in doing so, or you’ve not had any – or they haven’t --
MR. KELLY: I don’t believe that they have gotten access, just that they’re requesting it.
QUESTION: And do you know when he was – this time around, when he was detained?
MR. KELLY: I believe it was late last week. If I can get you the exact time, I will.
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