TEHRAN -- Iran said on Monday that Tehran is ready to reach a “good deal” with world powers but the U.S. government continues to move on the wrong path of its predecessor despite claims to the country.
“Even today, we are ready to return to Vienna to reach a good deal if Washington fulfills its commitments,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news briefing in Tehran.
In 2018 then-U.S. President Donald Trump reneged on a nuclear deal with Iran, prompting the Islamic Republic to begin scaling down its compliance after a year of “strategic patience”.
Khatibzadeh said Iran has submitted its initiatives to Washington via European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
“Ahead of the meeting of the Board of Governors, Iran’s initiative was conveyed to the other side via Borrell, and for the first time, through two foreign ministers, Iran’s initiative and proposal was conveyed and a roadmap was submitted, but the U.S. once again decided to delay this agreement,” he said.
“The American side must return to the path of signing an agreement as soon as possible,” he said, expressing Tehran’s readiness for “a good, sustainable, effective agreement”.
Negotiations have been held in the Austrian capital of Vienna since April last year to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In recent months, Iran has cited Washington’s indecisiveness, as a number of key issues remain unresolved, ranging from the removal of all post-JCPOA sanctions to the provision of guarantees by the American side that it will not leave the deal again.
“We are still moving on the diplomatic path — this train has still not derailed, despite the U.S. reneging on its commitments and in spite of all of its actions,” Khatibzadeh said.
He also said it is “too early” to reopen its embassy in Saudi Arabia amid Iraqi mediation between the two countries.
“It is too early to talk about the reopening of embassies by Tehran and Riyadh,” he said.
The spokesman was replying to a question about whether the travel of Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia would be a signal for the restoration of diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh.
Last week, the first convoy of Iranian pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2021, Iraq has hosted mediation talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia to end their diplomatic rift and reach an understanding on the conflict in Yemen and Iran’s nuclear file.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations in January 2016 following angry protests held outside the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr was executed by Saudi authorities.
Meanwhile, Khatibzadeh expressed hope that the cargo seized by Greece from an Iranian oil tanker will be released “in practice”.
According to a statement issued by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) on June 14, the Greek government ordered the release of the ship and its cargo despite sustained US efforts to do otherwise.
Late last month, Reuters quoted an unnamed Greek source as saying that the U.S. Department of Justice had confiscated 700,000 barrels of the Iranian oil cargo.
The source said that the oil cargo had been transferred to another ship hired by Washington and will be sent to the U.S.
At the time, the PMO described
the U.S. seizure of the Iranian oil cargo as an “act of piracy” that was “in violation of international standards.”
Referring to the two Greek oil tankers that have recently been seized by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in the Persian Gulf over violations, the spokesman said the vessels are undergoing judicial procedures and the Greek government has tried to provide documents to ensure their release.
Tehran and Athens had friendly relations before the unilateral U.S. imposition of sanctions against Iran and countries working with it. The export of Iran’s oil to Greece was halted as a result of the bans.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Khatibzadeh announced that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will arrive in Tehran “at the end of the current week”, noting that Tehran seeks to enhance cooperation in the regions of Euroasia and Caucasus.
Trade ties between Iran and Russia exceeded $4 billion in value terms over the Iranian calendar year to March. However, the two countries have insisted that the volume of trade could be more than doubled because of new geopolitical realities in the region.
Russia has been reeling under unprecedented economic sanctions from the U.S. and European countries since it launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February.
The two countries have significantly boosted their ties despite the U.S. sanctions, with Iran signing an agreement with the Russia-led EAEU bloc of Eurasian economies.