Iranian president says conclusion of nuclear talks requires U.S. "will"

TEHRAN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday said that the conclusion of talks for the salvage of the 2015 nuclear deal requires U.S. determination, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Iran never left the negotiating table, and it was the westerners who created a crisis in these negotiations, said Raisi, referring to the issuance of a recent anti-Iran resolution in the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Stating that the conclusion of negotiations requires, more than anything else, the "will" of Washington, Raisi said that Iran's position is "logical and rational, and if the other side behaves logically and rationally, the negotiations can lead to a result."

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.

Talks to revive the deal began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington. Both sides held indirect talks in Doha of Qatar late in June but failed to settle their differences.