Iran not to distance from diplomacy, negotiation to reach agreement in Vienna: FM-Xinhua

Iran not to distance from diplomacy, negotiation to reach agreement in Vienna: FM

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2022-06-14 21:59:17

TEHRAN, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian foreign minister said on Tuesday Iran will not distance itself from the "logic of diplomacy and negotiation" to reach a "good, strong and lasting agreement" in the Vienna talks.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in the capital Tehran, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Amir-Abdollahian stressed that Iran has never "escaped" from the negotiating table and maintains that negotiation and diplomacy are the best ways to reach an agreement on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal.

Over the past months, Iran and the United States kept exchanging messages indirectly through the European Union, he said. "We have proved that we favor dialogue and are trying to achieve a good, strong and lasting agreement."

However, the American side last week submitted an anti-Tehran resolution to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to pressure Tehran into granting concessions in the nuclear negotiations, the Iranian minister said.

He said Tehran's response to the resolution has been an increase in its nuclear activities and has informed the IAEA of its move through the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).

The minister added that Iran will not escape from dialogue and negotiation, giving the assurance that the path of dialogue continues.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015 accepting to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on Tehran. However, former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the agreement in retaliation.

Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held in the Austrian capital between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal.