TEHRAN, Sep 23 (ABC): Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said if the United States fulfills its commitments, lifts the sanctions on Iran and refrains from breaking its promise, it will be possible to reach an agreement on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal, official news agency IRNA reported on Friday. Raisi made the remarks during a press conference held late Thursday in New York on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. Responding to a question on the possibility of reaching a deal in the Vienna talks, Raisi said if the United States seeks to return to the nuclear agreement, it must first return to its commitments, fulfill them and lift the sanctions. He stressed that the Americans must honor what they have committed to within the framework of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
On the future of the nuclear negotiations, he said the ball is now in the U.S. court, and it is Washington that has to decide to act correctly and based on its commitments. Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for removing sanctions on the country. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact. The talks on the JCPOA’s revival began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington. The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in the Austrian capital in early August after a five-month hiatus. On Aug. 8, the European Union put forward its final text of the draft decision on reviving the JCPOA. Iran and the United States later indirectly exchanged views on the EU proposal in a process that has so far failed to produce any favorable outcome.