Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister announces continuation of talks on nuclear deal

The negotiation process to restore the nuclear agreement – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – continues, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri said on the sidelines of a ceremony dedicated to the third anniversary of the assassination of Iranian military leader, Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani and his associates. About it informs Tasnim agency.

“Negotiations (the revival of the JCPOA) are an ongoing process that is ongoing. His methods may have changed (from time to time), but the process is still ongoing, ”the agency quoted him as saying.

In this way, Bagheri reacted to statements by German and US officials that negotiations on the renewal of the nuclear deal were no longer important for them.

According to the deputy head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the country also continues cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “As an effective and responsible member of the Agency and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), as well as a country with nuclear capability, nuclear knowledge and nuclear technology, the Islamic Republic of Iran has always cooperated seriously and effectively with the Agency. And we will certainly continue this cooperation,” he stressed.

October 13 Western countries for the first time officially admitted the possibility of curtailing negotiations on the resumption of the JCPOA. The reason for this was the suppression of protests in Iran, John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council. According to him, from now on, Washington is focused on “attracting [иранский] regime to account for what it does to innocent political protesters.” A wave of protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini swept Iran in September. The girl was detained by the vice police for “wrong” wearing the hijab. She died in the hospital after being brought there from the police station. At the same time, France called information about the use of Iranian drones by Russia as part of the hostilities in Ukraine as a reason for curtailing negotiations on the JCPOA. Russian and Iranian officials have repeatedly denied the use of such drones.

October 31, US Special Representative Robert Malley at an online seminar declaredthat the United States has excluded negotiations to renew the agreement from its agenda. If diplomatic tools fail, Washington could use sanctions and even military force against Tehran, he said.

Nov 30 Mally also confirmedthat US President Joe Biden is ready, as a last resort, to go for a military solution to the issue of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but added that the States will find “other means and that Iran will change its current path.”