Iran urges US to prove its goodwill on nuke deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks with Russian Foreign Minister in Moscow on August 31, 2022. MAXIM SHEMETOV POOL AFP TEHRAN The Iranian foreign minister urged Washington to prove its determination and goodwill in order to reach an agreement on the resumption of a 2015 nuclear deal with realism, the official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke to Iranian reporters in New York after meeting with other countries' foreign ministers after the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Amir-Abdollahian said over the past few days, the US officials sent a message to him saying they have the will and goodwill to reach a nuclear agreement.

The minister said that they were told to show their determination and goodwill for achieving the agreement with realism. He noted that the talks focused on the removal of sanctions on Tehran, despite his meetings with other foreign ministers in New York.

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Amir-Abdollahian said that the Iranian negotiating team and colleagues in New York have held talks with the European Union's representative and other countries that are related to the nuclear negotiations, noting that the issue of the removal of the sanctions had been a priority on the agenda.

He emphasised that determination and seriousness are required to reach a nuclear agreement, stressing that at present it is the American side that should have the courage to make a decision and make it possible to reach a good, robust and lasting agreement. A senior Iranian lawmaker said French and Swiss presidents delivered US messages to the Iranian president in New York about the resumption of the nuclear talks and reached an agreement on the issue, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

The chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Vahid Jalalzadeh, made a statement about the meetings between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his French and Swiss counterparts Emmanuel Macron and Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

As part of the visit, Jalalzadeh said that if Iran adopts certain methods, Europe will be able to persuade the United States to revive the nuclear deal, and that Macron expressed interest in the continuation of the negotiations on the resumption of a 2015 nuclear deal. Jalalzadeh said that Raisi told Macron that Iran has suffered losses by trusting the United States within the framework of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and Raisi said do not ask us to sustain another loss. Jalalzadeh said the Swiss president also sent a message from the United States containing Washington's request for a direct bilateral meeting with Tehran.

The lawmaker said that Raisi will not withdraw from its positions on the need to resolve the safeguards issues with regard to the country's nuclear program in the talks on the JCPOA's revival.

Raisi had been in New York from Monday to Friday to take part in the UNGA and held talks with other participating states' presidents on the sidelines of the main event.

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