Iran FM: Window Will Not Remain Open Forever to Revive Nuke Deal

Speaking in an interview with Al Jazeera news network on Monday, Amir Abdollahian added that Iranian lawmakers seek to approve a plan which sets limitations to the negotiations to salvage the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA].

He said Iran is committed to continuing its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA].

Negotiations between the parties to the nuclear deal kicked off in Vienna in April 2021 with the intention of bringing the US back into the agreement and putting an end to its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

The discussions, however, have been at a standstill since August 2022 due to Washington’s insistence on not lifting all of the anti-Iran sanctions and offering the necessary guarantees that it will not exit the agreement again.

Elsewhere in his interview, Amir Abdollahian said Iran has responded to an invitation by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for President Ebrahim Raesi to visit Riyadh and will offer to reciprocally host the monarch.

In a post on his Twitter account on March 19, Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, announced that the Saudi King has invited the Iranian president to visit the kingdom, following the recent China-brokered rapprochement deal between the two countries.

“In a letter to President Raisi, the king of Saudi Arabia welcomed the deal between the two brotherly countries, (and) invited him to Riyadh,” Jamshidi said, adding that the Saudi king has called for establishing economic and regional cooperation between the two countries.

The top Iranian diplomat also hailed Qatar’s role in the exchange of prisoners and the nuclear talks, saying Doha has always moved in the right path.