TEHRAN, Iran, July 25.The Iranian government is seriously committed to the process of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiation and pursues this path until it achieves a good, sustainable and strong agreement, said the spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani, Trend reports.
Iran has not left the negotiating table, he said in his weekly press conference, adding that the process of talks in Vienna still continues, Iran acts hastily and the talks are in progress through the communication channels.
He underlined that the negotiation is ongoing between to Iranian negotiator and European Union Deputy Enrique Mora and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Foreign ministers of regional countries such as Oman, Qatar, and Iraq have also made efforts in this regard while European countries including Italy and France have also made shown their goodwill for talks, he noted.
Iran is persistent in reaching a good, strong, and sustainable deal that guarantees the country's interests and had flexibility, he told reporters.
If the US acts constructively and positively, an agreement is close. Iran is surely thinking about reaching an agreement and is interested in achieving one in the near future but it would defiantly not act emotionally and considers the Islamic republic's interest.
Iran and world powers, including the US, have held talks for over a year aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Iran insisting that the US must lift sanctions and provide a guarantee that future US administrations will not be able to withdraw from the deal.
In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year.
To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.
On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.
Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5.
On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.
As reported, in late 2020, the Iranian parliament has decided to implement a strategic plan to tackle the sanctions, citing the non-implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and six countries and the imposition of sanctions on Iran. According to the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran suspended the implementation of additional steps and an additional protocol provided for in the nuclear deal.
The US imposed new sanctions on Iran in November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals.