“The Islamic Republic of Iran has already made its tough decision. When the United States quit the JCPOA and Iran decided to stay in it, this was Iran’s big and tough decision, which has kept the JCPOA alive up to the present,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a Sunday interview with ICANA, following a meeting with members of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.
“It is now the other parties’ turn, and they must decide in view of the negotiations that we held thus far to reach a final conclusion on how to revive the JCPOA, so that the two sides could reach an agreement,” he added.
He noted that Iran and the remaining signatories to the JCPOA have so far held six rounds of negotiations in Vienna to that end and have “almost reached final stages,” Press TV reported.
There are still outstanding issues Iran and the P4+1 group of countries have held adequate discussions about and now the time is ripe for the other side to act.
The US, under former president Donald Trump, left the nuclear deal in 2018 and initiated a “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, prompting Tehran to take remedial measures by gradually reducing its nuclear commitments under the deal.
Since April, representatives from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries – France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China – have been holding talks in Vienna aimed at revitalizing the JCPOA and bringing the US back to compliance.