Iran Rules Out Any New Agreement Apart from JCPOA

Speaking in his weekly press briefing, Khatibzadeh said the current Vienna talks are held with the aim of clarifying the path of the US return to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Asked whether the US has shown signs of flexibility in removing the sanctions, Khatibzadeh said the answer was positive, but stressed that what counts is what is achieved at the end of the negotiations.

“The US must announce return to its commitments, fulfill them and remove its sanctions,” he said.

He also stressed that the ongoing Vienna talks will progress if the US abolishes former president Donald Trump’s failed “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and commits to its obligations under the deal.

“Consultations will progress more easily if the US decides to move away from Trump’s failed legacy and live up to its commitments,” he added.

Khatibzadeh stressed that there are no direct or indirect talks between Tehran and Washington.

He said the Americans know very well that Iran’s remedial measures, which it began to take in response to the US withdrawal and provocations, were part of the country’s rights under the JCPOA.

These measures “will be ceased only when the US removes the sanctions and we verify that,” the spokesman said, repeating Iran’s stance that the measures are reversible provided that the US honors the deal in a verifiable manner.

He said one of the key issues is that the Biden administration does not recognize some of the sanctions imposed under Trump related to the JCPOA, but the Iranian negotiators have “stressed that those sanctions were intended to make a return to the nuclear accord more difficult.”

“At the time, Trump administration officials unashamedly said that the sanctions were imposed with that motive,” the spokesman added.