Tehran: Iran’s president said Monday that reviving a 2015 agreement with world powers would be pointless unless the UN nuclear watchdog finishes investigating undeclared sites in the country.Ebrahim Raisi of The comments were made as Tehran considered the US reaction to a proposal on a “final” text proposed by the EU to save the landmark deal. The United States has remained adamant that Tehran cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency to clear suspicions regarding previous work at three undeclared sites.
“In the negotiations, the issue of safeguards is one of the fundamental issues. All safeguard issues must be resolved,” Raisi told reporters at a news conference in the capital Tehran. “There is no point in talking about an agreement without solving the safeguards issue,” he added. Iran has repeatedly urged the IAEA to end the issue before the deal is reinstated, but US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Thursday that the issue and his JCPOA “I don’t think there are any conditions,” he said.
Mr. Patel asked Iran to answer the IAEA’s questions about the three sites. In June, the IAEA board accused Iran of failing to adequately explain the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium at three sites where Tehran has not declared itself hosting nuclear activity. A deal between Iran and six world powers (UK, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US) would have eased sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for curbing its nuclear program. .
Since taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden has tried to get the United States back on a deal unilaterally abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump in 2018. Return Tehran to full compliance with its commitments through the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington have so far been conducted through European Union mediation. The 2015 agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, was intended to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. “Nuclear weapons are not in our defense doctrine,” Raishi repeated Monday.
