Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that it does not seem that Washington will take any step to lift the sanctions, indicating that his country will stop working with the additional protocol on February 23.
In an interview with Iranian television, Araghchi added that “suspending the additional protocol does not mean Tehran’s withdrawal from the nuclear agreement.”
He pointed out that “the way back to the agreement will be open, and Tehran can withdraw from the suspension of the additional protocol and all measures to reduce compliance in the event that sanctions are lifted.”
He continued: “The 1 + 5 group does not exist now, and Washington does not have the right to refer to this group .. We only have the 1 + 4 group, and the United States can join it provided the sanctions are lifted.”
Araghchi considered that “the nuclear agreement is one of the achievements of the Democrats in the United States, and returning to it is one of US President Joe Biden’s electoral slogans, but his administration has not yet reached a decision on returning to it.”
And he stressed that “what Iran did not give up under the maximum pressure in the era of former President Donald Trump, it will not abandon it in political negotiations in the Biden era.”
He pointed out that “any negotiations with the parties to the nuclear agreement will be about implementing the signed nuclear agreement and not concluding a new agreement.”
Araghchi added that “the political steps of the Biden administration are of political and legal value, but the lifting of sanctions is the standard for Iran.”
He said, “America can expect symbolic measures from Iran in the event that it undertakes symbolic political measures.”
He pointed out that “the visit of the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Iran has nothing to do with the decision to suspend the additional protocol next Tuesday.”
On the other hand, he indicated that “his country will not negotiate or bargain at all about its missile system and its role in the region, neither now nor in the future.”
Araghchi considered that “the nuclear agreement is still alive thanks to Iran and not thanks to European countries.”
He said, “In the event that Washington lifted the sanctions at once, Tehran would be ready to implement all its commitments at once.”
He continued: The dispute between Iran and the United States will not end even if it returns to the nuclear deal and lifted the sanctions, because we will not give up compensation for the losses that Iran incurred after Washington’s withdrawal from the agreement.
He pointed out that his country “is studying the European proposal to hold an informal meeting of the 4 + 1 group and Iran with the participation of Washington as a guest.” He said, “We are consulting with Russia and China on this proposal.”
Source: RT
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