TEHRAN, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday Tehran and Washington were exchanging messages indirectly and constantly on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, with the latest ones communicated between the two sides 72 hours ago.
The United States is behaving "hypocritically" toward Iran in the nuclear negotiations, Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting.
Although Washington has, through some other countries' foreign ministers, sent messages to Tehran that it is in a hurry to resume the nuclear talks, the U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley has "hypocritically" said in an interview that the resumption of the negotiations is not among the U.S. priorities, Amir-Abdollahian noted.
Iran insists on the removal of the U.S. sanctions, said the Iranian top diplomat, adding "we did not negotiate merely for the sake of having negotiated, but for achieving results."
Turning to Europe's bid to adopt an anti-Tehran resolution during Wednesday's meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Amir-Abdollahian said if Europeans seek to continue the "unconstructive path," they will receive Iran's reciprocal, yet effective, response.
Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed its sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA.
The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough was achieved after the latest round of talks in early August.
Speaking to reporters in Paris on Monday, Malley ruled out any push for the stalled talks to revive JCPOA, saying Washington would continue its policy of pressure and sanctions against Tehran.
He blamed Iran for the nuclear talks' failure to bear fruit. "If these negotiations are not happening, it's because of Iran's position and everything that has happened since (September)," said Malley. ■
