Top diplomat: Iran not after new nuclear deal

Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri says Iran is still a signatory to a sapped 2015 nuclear accord with the West and seeks to invigorate the landmark deal rather than striking a new agreement.

Bagheri, who is in New York to take part in UN Security Council meetings, told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Wednesday, “We are still a member of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The US has not yet managed to return to the JCPOA, so the goal we are pursuing is to revive the 2015 agreement. We are not looking for a new deal.”

The Iranian interim foreign minister also dismissed allegations that Iran was involved in a botched assassination attempt against former US president Donald Trump in revenge for his role in the 2020 assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani.

He said Iran will spare no legal efforts to put the murderers of General Soleimani on trial.

Bagheri said, “We have used and will use our domestic legal and judicial frameworks and international legal and judicial mechanisms to bring the commanders, perpetrators and managers of General Soleimani’s assassination to justice. This is our right.”

“The Americans have openly announced that they assassinated the senior Iranian military commander. Naturally, we should deal with this assassination and those who are accused in this field should be tried by a competent court and punished according to the court’s verdict,” he stressed.

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