TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign minister says the U.S. offered no initiatives during the negotiations in Qatari capital of Doha over the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Hussein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna on Sunday night.
“We are serious and honest about reaching ....a good and durable agreement. We have always presented our positive suggestions and proposals during negotiations.
“We believe that repeating previous stances should not replace political initiatives,” the top Iranian diplomat said.
The minister said, “Our assessment of the recent talks in Doha is positive, but we have to see how the American side would take advantage of the diplomatic opportunity.”
Amir-Abdollahian said the path to diplomacy is still open. He noted that Iran has always adhered to all of its international obligations, saying Tehran expects the other sides to do the same.
Colonna, for her part, underscored that the available opportunity for dialogue should be taken up in order to reach an agreement satisfactory to all parties.
“We believe that the window for diplomacy is still open and we must seize it in the best possible way to conclude an agreement. A deal is better than no agreement at all,” the French foreign minister said.
The European Union was tasked with coordinating indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States during the fresh round of negotiations in Qatar last week.
Iran does not sit down with the U.S. as Washington is no longer a party to the landmark deal, which was unilaterally abandoned by former US president Donald Trump in May 2018.
The talks in Doha followed seven rounds of inconclusive negotiations in the Austrian capital of Vienna since April last year.
In quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are being enforced to this day by the Joe Biden administration, even though it has repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a total failure.
Iran has maintained it wants guarantees that it will be able to enjoy the economic benefits that were promised under the original deal.
On Monday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said the U.S. and Europeans’ passage of an anti-Tehran
resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) while talks on the revival of the 2015 deal were underway was a violation of the letter and spirit of the accord.
Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with the new Swiss ambassador to Tehran Nadine Olivieri Lozano, during which he expressed Iran’s readiness to boost trade, economic and political relations with all countries to a maximum level, including Switzerland.
Reflecting on the recent anti-Iranian resolution adopted by the IAEA’s Board of Governors, drafted by the U.S. and its European allies, Raisi said, “The United States must make a decision to abide by the requirements of the negotiations and the agreement.”
Raisi expressed hope that the new Swiss envoy would convey the existing realities in Iran to Switzerland and other countries so that they would understand that Tehran has managed to make progress despite hostile approaches and that their arrogant policies have backfired