Top negotiator: Iran standing firm on demand for removal of all sanctions

Speaking to IRNA, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said nuclear talks remain underway and no break has happened in the process, which is being pursued with seriousness.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to lay an emphasis on its logical position on a removal of the sanctions, and the logic has been accepted,” he said.

“The cruel sanctions imposed by a fool, which means [ex-US President] Trump, must be fully lifted,” the chief negotiator stressed.

He said all the obstacles created in the way of Iran’s economic dividends from the nuclear agreement should be eliminated.

“The removal of sanctions is our fundamental goal in the negotiations, and talks with the Western side continue based on that objective,” Bagheri Kani said.

Washington, under Trump, abandoned the deal in 2018 and re-imposed crippling sanctions, prompting Iranian retaliation.

With a change of administration in the US, Washington claimed it sought to return to the agreement and undo Trump’s hostile pressure policies.

But the fresh round of talks on reviving the deal remain at an impasse, with Tehran criticizing Washington for a failure to guarantee its future commitment to the agreement and effectively lift the bans.