Iran negotiator: Tehran wants US sanctions lifted

Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri said in an interview with Russian channel RT on Friday the aim of the negotiations with P4+1 is to remove the US oppressive and illegal sanctions against Iranians.

“We have constructive relations with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and we are confident that this Agency will not allow any political abuse,” he continued.

“The Agency should not allow other countries to use it [IAEA] to achieve their biased goals,” he added.

“We expect the IAEA to condemn terrorist operations against Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Bagheri noted.

Bagheri considered cooperation with neighboring countries as one of the priorities of the Iranian government, announcing efforts are making to solve the existing problems in this field.

He also noted that during his visit to Moscow, he had a constructive talk with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and the two sides agreed on having periodic consultations.

Bagheri arrived in Moscow on Thursday evening to meet with senior Russian diplomats.

The Moscow visit came after the deputy FM held a meeting with the EU’s Enrique Mora in Brussels on how to remove US’ unlawful sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.

Iran has agreed to resume negotiations over the nuclear deal before the end of November, but the United States continues to put pressure on Tehran.

A source familiar with discussions about Iran nuclear deal has told CNN that US President Joe Biden will discuss potential options ‘of imposing higher costs on Iran’ during his G20 meetings with allies and that those costs could be imposed even as the Iran talks are underway.

Also on Friday, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on four Iranian individuals and two entities, for their involvement in promoting the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) programs of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Tehran has stressed the sanctions send the message that the Biden administration that talks of returning to the nuclear deal, is not trustworthy. Iran has announced the imposition of new sanctions on the Islamic Republic shows a contradictory behavior on the part of the White House. Foreign Minister Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stated that a government that talks of returning to the nuclear deal but follows in the footsteps of former US president Donald Trump sends the message that it is not trustworthy.