Marques Mendes: Iran's request is a "false issue"

The candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Marques Mendes, considered this Monday in Porto that it is a non-issue that Portugal has to provide clarifications to Iran regarding the use, by the United States, of the Lajes Base, in the Azores.

Speaking on the sidelines of the São João festival held by Porto City Council, the candidate downplayed the emphasis placed by the Iranian ambassador, Majid Tafreshi, who said this Monday that he would ask the Portuguese government for clarification on the use of the Lajes Base . “That is a false issue. Everyone knows that there has been an agreement for decades that allows the Americans to use the Lajes Base. That is already public and well-known. In other words, the Iranian ambassador can do whatever he wants, but he cannot change the facts” , added Marques Mendes.

Regarding the conflict in the Middle East, he admitted that the “risk is enormous”, which is why “all parties, the United States, Europe, Iran and the Arab world, must make an effort to reduce this tension”. “I think it is clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons . Now, the most effective and safest way to resolve this problem is probably through negotiation, through diplomacy, involving the various parties, but also with the help of the European Union, of moderate Arab countries, because they are peacemakers”, he continued.

Calling for a “great joint effort” , Marques Mendes stressed that his position on the conflict “is, to a large extent, the same as that of the European Union in the sense of defending a negotiated solution, through diplomacy”. “The way forward cannot be through violence, it has to be through diplomacy” , insisted the candidate.