Iran voices hopes for Vienna nuke talks to resume "in near future"-Xinhua

Iran voices hopes for Vienna nuke talks to resume "in near future"

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2022-06-23 22:39:29

TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday expressed hope for the nuclear talks in Vienna to resume "in the near future," state TV reported.

"I hope the talks will resume in the near future" to rescue the Iranian nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Amir-Abdollahian told a televised joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"We continue on the path of diplomacy, which is the right path, and once again we invite America to reality," he said.

The Iranian top diplomat also expressed his gratitude to Russia for its opposition to an anti-Iran resolution proposed by the United States and its European allies in a recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting.

Meanwhile, Lavrov said the goal is to "correct the mistake the United States made over the JCPOA."

"When the United States withdrew from the JCPOA, it once again violated international law. We must work to revive the JCPOA in its original form in the 2015 deal without any additions," he noted.

Iran signed the nuclear deal with the world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of the U.S.-led sanctions. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran.

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

However, the talks have been suspended since March when it was believed to be only a step away from a final agreement, raising deep concerns about their prospect.

In early June, the IAEA's Board of Governors adopted an anti-Iran resolution proposed by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, accusing Iran of noncooperation.

In reaction to the resolution, Iran has shut off a number of the IAEA's surveillance cameras at its nuclear sites.