Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Iran's President: We're 'absolutely serious' about nuclear talks


Iran is "absolutely serious" about nuclear talks expected to resume late this month, its President Ebrahim Raisi told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call Tuesday.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is absolutely serious about the negotiations and we are equally serious about our people's rights to have sanctions lifted," Raisi said, according to a statement published on the presidency's website and quoted by AFP.

According to a Kremlin statement, Putin expressed hopes "that the talks scheduled for late November will be constructive".

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.

The previous Iranian government, headed by former President Hassan Rouhani, had been holding indirect talks with the Biden administration on a return to the agreement.

The negotiations were adjourned on June 20, two days after Ebrahim Raisi won Iran's presidential election.

Two weeks ago, an Iranian diplomat said that the negotiations will restart November 29 in Vienna.

A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry later demanded that the US lift sanctions imposed on Iran as part of the nuclear talks and also reassure Iran it will not abandon the deal again.