Interview: The United States' return to the Iranian nuclear agreement needs to "change its style" and lift sanctions - a visit to Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Khatibzadeh

Tehran, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Exclusive Interview: The United States' return to the Iranian nuclear agreement requires a "change of course" and lifting of sanctions - a visit to Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Khatib Zadeh

Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Wencheng Wang Shoubao

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatibzadeh said in an exclusive interview with a Xinhua reporter a few days ago that the United States can only sit down with other relevant parties to negotiate the ongoing negotiations between the parties involved in the JCPOA.

Hattibzadeh said that although the US Biden administration expressed its willingness to return to the Iranian nuclear agreement during the campaign, it still continued the "maximum pressure" policy adopted by the previous Trump administration against Iran. "The United States is doing everything in its power to undermine Iran's relations with other countries, especially to prevent Iran from normalizing its economic relations with other countries."

He said that if the United States wants to return to the JCPOA, it must "show sufficient willingness" in the negotiations and take "necessary actions" in lifting sanctions to persuade other relevant parties to be willing to "accept the return of the United States to the JCPOA." The Iranian nuclear negotiations "have not made much progress because the United States has not yet made a political decision on this."

Speaking about the impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran, Khatibzadeh said the United States is very obsessed with the use of sanctions, but such an approach is "doomed to failure." The sanctioned countries have largely shown that they are independent and able to withstand pressure and coercion from the United States, and that the United States cannot impose its will on these countries.

He said the United States was trying to inflict pain on the Iranian people. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was a widespread hope that the United States would change its sanctions policy, the United States "even tried to hinder Iran's procurement of vaccines by restricting the payment of funds."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Khatibzadeh was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency in Tehran, Iran, on January 18. Xinhua News Agency

Regarding the Iranian nuclear negotiations that are taking place in Vienna, austria, "We hope to reach a new agreement that is reliable and stable to bring the United States back to the Iranian nuclear agreement" and ensure that the United States will not once again tease international law by withdrawing from the agreement.

Khatibzadeh also praised China's role in the Vienna talks as "constructive and important." "China has been working hard to be fair and bridge the differences between Iran and the United States, and I hope that other countries will play this constructive role as well," he said. ”

In July 2015, Iran reached a nuclear deal with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany. In May 2018, the US government unilaterally withdrew from the Iranian nuclear agreement, and then restarted and added a series of sanctions against Iran. Since May 2019, Iran has gradually suspended the implementation of some of the terms of the JCPOA, but promised that the measures taken were "reversible".

The parties to the Iranian nuclear agreement began to hold negotiations in Vienna in April 2021 to discuss the resumption of implementation by the United States and Iran, and the United States indirectly participated in the negotiations. The eighth round of negotiations began in Vienna on 27 December 2021.