The government in Iran wants the United States to lift all sanctions on their country and rejected the “step by step” easing of restrictions, Iran State Broadcaster reported on Saturday. The two rival nations said on Friday they would hold indirect talks in Vienna from next week as part of a wider negotiation to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and Western powers.
The US State Department said the focus would be on “nuclear steps that Iran needed to take to return to obedience” with the agreement. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday that Tehran opposed every gradual easing of sanctions. “No step-by-step plans are being considered,” Khatibzadeh said to the TV press.
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According to senior officials with the European Union, the purpose of talks in the Austrian capital is to reach an agreement within two months, the coordinator of the agreement. Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear pact in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions against Iran, encouraging Tehran to violate some nuclear restrictions on the agreement.
President Joe Biden now wants to revive the agreement, but Washington and Tehran are in a row for who should take the first step. Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – all parties for the 2015 agreement – held virtual talks on Friday to discuss the possibility of US returns with an agreement.
France asked Iran to show constructive attitudes in indirect talks held with the United States in Vienna next week as part of a wider effort to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, the foreign ministry said on Saturday. Following the call with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that he had asked Iran to refrain from further violations of the current nuclear commitment to help.
