JCPOA Has A Defined Road Map; No Need for Negotiations - Tehran

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has a defined road map and there is no need for new negotiations.

Katibzadeh told Sputnik that no talks are on the horizon with the US, noting that the only thing that is needed is for the US to stick to its own obligations, re-enter the JCPOA deal, and lift its current sanctions that have cost the Islamic Republic a trillion dollars in damage.

Regarding the claims on US messages to Iran, the diplomat said, "Until now, Iran hasn't received any message, either direct or indirect, from the new US administration.”

Tehran is not planning to dispatch any messages to the US either, especially given the fact that it was Washington that decided to leave one of the "longest and most detailed international agreements," he added.

Khatibzadeh underlined that the problem is that Washington is not willing to budge. Sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump are still in place, Iranian diplomats in New York City remain restricted in their movements, and the current administration has not taken any steps to punish those responsible for the murder of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a Trump-ordered drone strike while on an official visit to Baghdad in January 2020.

Stressing that the US policy of maximum pressure has failed, Khatibzadeh said, “If we look at statistics, released by international bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, we will see that the recession in Iran is officially over and that that positive trend is projected to go on."

Elsewhere in his remarks, Khatibzadeh criticized Seoul Government for failure to pay its arrears to Iran, saying that South Korean Government needs to respect international law and Iranian sovereignty rights.

He said that Iranian courts of law will use Universal Jurisdiction to issue rulings against South Korean Government for blocking Iranian assets in Seoul under the pretext of the US unlawful sanctions.