Iran says Nuclear talks possible once everybody returns to deal

Iran has said that it would not negotiate with the US until it rejoins the 2015 nuclear deal or broadens the accord to address its missile programme and regional activities. As the deadline for JCPOA nears an end, the country’s foreign minister Javed Zarif said that talks could only happen once everybody comes to total compliance with the terms of the deal. Speaking to state-controlled Press TV, he also warned that if ever the negotiations take place, they should not be about changing the terms of the agreement.

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“Once everybody implements their parts of the obligation there will be talks, and those talks will not be about changing the terms of the agreement, regional issues or missile issues. We’re not going to discuss those,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javed Zarif said in an interview with a state-run media outlet.

In 2015, the P5+1 nations signed the JCPOA deal with Iran which allowed Tehran to scaled back its nuclear or uranium enrichment program in exchange for promises of economic relief. However, Donald Trump withdrew the US from the pact in 2018. Last month, the newly appointed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken clearly asserted that the country would only rejoin the deal after Tehran meets its commitment.

Iran has held fast to its red lines days before it is set to bar snap international inspections of its nuclear sites. Such a move, threatened in an effort to pressure the Biden administration to reverse bruising Trump-era sanctions, is likely to make concessions by either side more difficult. A lapse in the Tehran imposed deadline would mean that the Islamic Republic could completely block UN nuclear inspector’s access to its territories as a result of America's failure to wave off hard-hitting sanctions. 

‘US won’t quit the deal again’  

In his interview, Zarif called on Biden for continuing with his predecessor’s “maximum pressure” policy and blamed him for the economic loss caused to the country due to US sanctions. While, Iran, earlier this week, rejected US proposal to negotiate a diplomatic way forward, it has called on the Biden administration to guarantee that the country won’t pull off from the deal once it joins.

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