China calls on US to respond positively to Iran’s goodwill in nuclear talks

“China attaches importance to the EU’s position which you cited on the Iranian nuclear issue. We welcome the EU’s reiteration of its commitment to restoring the JCPOA and continuing its diplomatic and political efforts, and call for separating the Iranian nuclear issue from other issues related to Iran,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

“Negotiations on resuming compliance with the JCPOA face serious complexities, but there is still hope to reach an agreement. All parties need to stay committed to dialogue and negotiation and step up diplomatic effort to bring the JCPOA back on track as soon as possible,” he stressed.

“Iran has recently shown goodwill and flexibility on some outstanding issues of the negotiations. The US needs to respond to that positively and find ways to work with Iran for the negotiations to achieve early result. In the meantime, the other parties also need to work together and take positive and constructive steps to create a favorable atmosphere for the negotiations,” the official stated.

“To tie the Iranian nuclear issue with other issues or tighten sanctions and pressure on Iran unilaterally will only lead the negotiations to a dead end and even undo previous diplomatic efforts,” he cautioned.

The Iran nuclear deal, also known as the JCPOA, was an agreement signed in 2015 by Tehran with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China, during the presidency of Barack Obama. However, Obama’s successor Donald Trump abandoned the JCPOA in May 2018 and slapped harsh sanctions on Iran. Joe Biden had vowed to resume talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal and remove the harsh US sanctions. Two years into the presidency, Biden has failed to keep his promise and is now threatening to take military action.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has recently noted the sanctions removal talks have not been taken off Iran’s agenda.

Kanaani added that all efforts by the EU coordinator for the talks show that the other sides have also remained committed to the continuation of the negotiations.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman however stressed that the only problem is the contradiction between the US’s words and action.

He noted that the US on the one hand sends messages in which they express their views about ways of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, JCPOA, and on the other hand its behavior and statements fail to complement the process of talks.

Kanaani stated that the way has been paved technically for the revival of the JCPOA and the return of all parties to their obligations under the accord.

The spokesperson underscored whenever Washington desires, all sides can return to the deal. Kanaani however underlined that Iran will not wait for the agreement to be revived and will pursue its own foreign policy agenda.