TEHRAN —
Iran called on Monday for a new meeting "as
soon as possible" in the talks that have been held in Vienna aimed at
restoring its frayed 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
اضافة اعلان
Tehran has been engaged in negotiations with Britain, China,
France, Germany, and Russia directly and the US indirectly to revive the
so-called
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"It is appropriate that a face-to-face meeting is held
as soon as possible," foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told
his weekly press conference.
"It is not yet decided where and when to have this
meeting and at what level it should be held, but it is on the agenda."
The 2015 deal gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for
curbs on its nuclear program to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a
nuclear weapon, something it has always denied wanting to do.
The US unilaterally withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under
then-president
Donald Trump and reimposed biting economic sanctions, prompting
Iran to begin rolling back its own commitments.
Iran and the US, adversaries for decades, have been
exchanging views through the European coordinator of the Vienna talks, Enrique
Mora.
Khatibzadeh said Iran and the EU agreed that
"prolonging the pause in the negotiations is not in anyone's
interest".
He added that the talks "have not stopped and are
continuing through the coordinator of the
Vienna negotiations".
The Vienna talks have been paused since March 11 after
Russia demanded guarantees that Western sanctions imposed against it after its
February 24 invasion of Ukraine would not damage its trade with Iran.
Days later,
Moscow said it had received the necessary
guarantees.
The Vienna talks, which started a year ago, aim to return
the US to the nuclear deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran,
and to ensure Tehran's full compliance with its commitments.
Among the key remaining sticking points is Iran's demand
that Washington delist its
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from a US terror
list.
"It is clear that if the US had given the right answers
to the remaining issues ... everyone would have been in Vienna by now,"
said Khatibzadeh.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said last week that
"if Iran wants sanctions-lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they'll need
to address concerns of ours that go beyond the JCPOA".
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