TEHRAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that negotiations on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal are continuing through relevant channels at both sides' request.
Nasser Kanaani made the remarks at a weekly press conference without further elaborating on "relevant channels," according to the official news agency IRNA.
Kanaani added Iran's policy toward the nuclear issue is clear, and the country is acting within the same political framework.
He said Iran is ready for the conclusion of the nuclear talks based on the European Union's proposed package.
However, achievement of an agreement is a bilateral process, he said, noting that "the United States is the country that has violated its oath under the nuclear deal and must be accountable for its action."
Kanaani also warned that the window of diplomacy will not remain open forever on Iran's side, as mentioned earlier by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the country's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, urging the other sides to act rationally and pay attention to their interests within this framework.
The revival of the nuclear deal is not Iran's sole foreign policy issue, he added.
A number of U.S. officials have said over the past days that the nuclear deal's revival is no longer on Washington's agenda, saying the United States is focused on the recent protests that erupted in Iran following the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini in a Tehran hospital on Sept. 16, a few days after her collapse at a police station.
Iran has accused the United States and some other Western countries of "inciting riots and supporting terrorists" in the country.
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 May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.
The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough has been achieved after the latest round of talks in August 2022. ■
