Call on US to Return to Course of Diplomacy

The United States must return swiftly to the course of diplomacy toward an agreement on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, a senior diplomat said. 
“We still move on the path of diplomacy and despite the US unfaithfulness, this train is not yet off track,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a regular press briefing on Monday, IRNA reported. 
He added that Iran is ready for a good, lasting and effective agreement and believes that all conditions are suitable for such a deal. 
The US pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran, which responded by scaling down its commitments. 
Negotiations have been underway since April 2021 to work out how both countries can resume compliance with the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but the talks have been stalled for months over a few final differences. 
Iran demands a complete and verifiable removal of sanctions before reversing its countermeasures. 
In its latest move, however, Washington imposed a new set of sanctions on a network of Iranian firms, as well as on Chinese and Emirati companies, that help export Iran’s petrochemicals.
Khatibzadeh said this contradictory behavior has caused mistrust of the US at international level.
“For this reason, Iran has to care for the interests and rights of the great Iranian nation,” he said. 
Nevertheless, diplomacy for the removal of sanctions is definitely the approach Iran will continue to adopt until a sustainable agreement is reached, according to the diplomat. 
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had also said earlier that Iran would not distance itself from result-oriented talks. 
“We continue talks & call on US to be realistic & abandon sanctions lunacy,” he had tweeted. 

Illusion of Leverage 

The US had also earlier joined European powers to push for a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to blame Iran for failing to give credible answers about safeguards issues. 
Iran and the IAEA had agreed in March to settle this case by early June, but the director general reported ahead of the board meeting that Iran’s explanations were not justifiable. 
The document was passed last week despite opposition by Russia and China.
This is while Iran had put forward a new initiative prior to the IAEA board meeting which could clear the way for an agreement. 
The proposal was welcomed by European Union coordinator of the JCPOA Josep Borrell who delivered it to Washington, according to Khatibzadeh. 
“We presented an initiative which laid out a time frame and a road map, but the US decided again to prolong the process and delay an agreement,” he said. 
He added that the US measure at the IAEA Board of Governors was rooted in the illusion that it can create leverages, but Iran’s response was “firm and proportionate.”
Tehran reacted by advancing nuclear activities and reducing cooperation with the agency so far as it concerned operations beyond the safeguards agreement. 
Khatibzadeh said the US took the wrong turn with miscalculation at a point and received the response, but Iran continues to pursue diplomacy through Borrell. 
“If the US fulfills its commitments under the JCPOA and lifts sanctions against the Iranian nation, we can finalize an agreement based on Iran’s initiative,” he said. 
Russia’s representative said despite the look of it, the IAEA resolution does not indicate western countries’ intention to bring the Vienna talks to failure. 
“The recent #IAEA BoG resolution sponsored by #E3 and the #US provides reasons to believe that they try to derail the #ViennaTalks on #JCPOA. But in my view it was a non-intentional strategic miscalculation and those countries still aim at successful finalization on the talks,” Mikhail Ulyanov said on Twitter.