Iran remains committed to nuclear negotiations says FM

Tehran: Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that Iran’s position in the negotiations aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal has not been changed.

Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday made the remarks in an Instagram report about his telephone conversation with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Hamad al-Busaidi.

Noting that Iran and other negotiating parties have made a lot of efforts to reach an agreement over the past few months, the Iranian Foreign Minister told al-Busaidi that “Iran has always adhered to the process of dialogue and exchange of messages to lift sanctions, and the only obstacle to an agreement is the lack of realism and necessary determination on the part of the US.”

Iran has repeatedly shown “sufficient determination and goodwill” necessary to achieve a good, strong and stable agreement, and “there has been no change in Iran’s positions,” he said.

For his part, al-Busaidi emphasised the importance of reaching an agreement and returning all parties to their commitments, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran and the US have been indirectly exchanging views about a recent EU proposal aimed at resolving the outstanding issues on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Iran signed the deal with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear programme in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. However, former US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.

The talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington.

The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in the Austrian capital in early August after a five-month hiatus. On August 8, the EU put forward a “final text” of the draft decision on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)