Iran’s top leader praises nuke negotiators for resisting excessive demands

Tehran: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has praised the country’s negotiating team for resisting the “excessive demands” during the talks on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal.

“Negotiations are going well,” Khamenei was quoted as saying on Tuesday by his official website, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Iranian leader added that the Iranian negotiators will continue to resist such demands.

Khamenei advised the government of President Ebrahim Raisi to deal with the country’s issues regardless of the results of the Vienna talks, which have been held since last year between Iran and other major signatory parties to the 2015 pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments.

Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital of Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties, including Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, to revive the deal. The US has been indirectly involved in the talks.