Call for Nuclear Talks Based on Mutual Interests, Rights

The remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal should be ready for negotiations on the revival of the agreement “based on mutual interests and rights,” Iran’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“The purpose of negotiations is not talking for the sake of talking, but to achieve tangible results on the basis of respect for mutual interests,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Twitter. 
Talks have been underway since April in Vienna, Austria, to restore the nuclear deal that has been unravelling since the United States pulled out and reimposed sanctions on Iran, who reacted by scaling back its commitments.  
The negotiations were paused in June after six rounds, following the presidential elections in Iran, which brought conservative Ebrahim Raeisi to power. 
The new administration has been reviewing the track record of past rounds and have recently signaled readiness to return to the negotiating table, with a target date of late November.  
US President Joe Biden recently met the leaders of European parties, namely France, Germany and Britain, in Rome to discuss the issue. 
In a statement released afterwards, they underlined the importance of a negotiated solution that provides for the return of Iran and the US to full compliance with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as the deal is formally called). 
“We call upon President Raeisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any country’s interest,” they said. 

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The four western countries also highlighted Biden’s “clearly demonstrated commitment” to return the US to full compliance with the JCPOA and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same.
“Return to JCPOA compliance will provide sanctions lifting with long-lasting implications for Iran’s economic growth,” the statement read. 
This is while the Biden administration has recently hit Iran with a new set of sanctions in a move that contradicts its claim of intending to return to its commitments under the agreement. 
On Friday, the US Treasury Department announced new penalties against two senior members of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and four affiliated companies for allegedly supplying lethal drones and related material to insurgent groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Ethiopia. 
Iran condemned the measure, saying it conveys a message of unreliability for Biden’s government. 
“The White House calls for negotiations with Iran and claims to be ready to return to the JCPOA. Yet it simultaneously imposes new sanctions on Iranian individuals & entities,” Amir-Abdollahian said in another tweet. 
“We are closely examining Mr. Biden’s behavior,” he added. 
Iran demands a complete and verified removal of sanctions before it reversed its countermeasures. It also calls for a guarantee that no government in the US would violate the deal again. 
Biden is reportedly refusing to lift all its sanctions unconditionally, trying to build on the JCPOA to include more terms, including Iran’s missile program and regional policies. 
Tehran maintains that its defensive programs are non-negotiable.