Talks to resume but question over new demands linger
The foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the new administration of President Ebrahim Raisi has carried out dual reviews: one, now concluded, deciding to continue the talks, and a second reviewing details of talks to date.
In an interview with France 24 television, Khatibzadeh stressed that Iran would return to the talks more quickly than the three months it took the United States to open talks in April after President Joe Biden took office in January having pledged to return to the agreement, from which his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. But it has been more than three months since the last round of talks in June.
The spokesman criticized the Biden administration for continuing Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions despite campaign promises. "The most important issue is lifting all sanctions imposed on Iran," Khatibzadeh said.
European signatories of the deal – the JCPOA, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – have expressed concern that Iran is in no hurry to resume talks as it is gaining useful experience in running a nuclear program that has expanded since 2019.
Khatibzadeh has denied that Iran has preconditions for resuming talks, although some pundits have interpreted Amir-Abdollahian's demand for unfreezing Iranian assets as a toughening of Tehran’s approach.
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