TEHRAN —
Iran's top security official said Sunday
that Washington and Tehran had so far failed to produce "balance" in
their commitments during the Vienna talks aimed at restoring the nuclear
deal.
اضافة اعلان
"Despite limited progress in the
#ViennaTalks, we are still far from achieving the necessary balance in the
commitments of the parties," Supreme National Security Council secretary
Ali Shamkhani said in a Twitter post.
"Political decisions in #Washington are
requirements for balance of commitments to reach a good agreement."
Iran is engaged in negotiations with
Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia directly and with the US indirectly
to revive the 2015 deal formally called the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
After months of stalemate, progress has been
made in recent weeks to revive the agreement that was supposed to prevent Iran
from acquiring an atomic bomb, a goal it has always denied pursuing.
Former US president
Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the pact in 2018 and reimposed tough economic
sanctions on Iran, prompting the Islamic republic to begin pulling back from
its commitments under the deal.
Talks on reviving the agreement were halted
last week and the negotiators returned to their capitals for consultations.
EU foreign policy chief
Josep Borrell, in a phone
call with Iran's foreign minister on Saturday, said he expected all
parties to come to Vienna with a clear agenda to reach an agreement and be
ready to make political decisions.
Iran's Foreign Minister
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in the call that "positive developments have taken
place since the previous talks, but they still do not meet our expectations.
"We are determinedly seeking a good
deal, but at the same time we are focusing on preserving our red lines and
national interests."
The
US State Department on Friday said it
was waiving sanctions on Iran's civil nuclear program in a technical step
necessary to return to the JCPOA.
The waiver allows other countries and
companies to participate in Iran's civil nuclear program without triggering US
sanctions on them, in the name of promoting safety and non-proliferation.
"What happens on paper is good but not
enough," Amir-Abdollahian said on Saturday, adding that "we seek and
demand guarantees in the political, legal and economic sectors".
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