BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 26. Iran will continue indirect negotiations with the US on its nuclear program until a favorable outcome is reached, Spokesman of Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference in Tehran, Trend reports.
The spokesman emphasized that Iran is in favor of holding discussions on the nuclear program, and the continuation and conclusion of these discussions depends on the other side, especially the US government.
Kanaani added that the Iranian side used and continues to use the goodwill and interest of regional parties, including Oman, for discussions with the US side.
"The Iranian side does not confirm the news published in the media about the unwritten agreement between Iran and the US. The statement of the media on the discussions on the lifting of sanctions between Iran and the US is not confirmed by Iran, and no official statement is made about it," he said.
Reportedly, Iran and the US have recently conducted indirect discussions various issues, including prisoner exchange, Iran's nuclear program, and other issues through the mediation of Oman.
In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.
On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.
Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5. On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.
On May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany), and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.
Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
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