BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 22. Iran continues negotiations on the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on its nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions against Iran, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani said at the press conference in Tehran on Jan.22, Trend reports.
Kanaani said that last week, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Ali Bagheri Kani, met and held talks with the High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy and security issues, Joseph Borrell, and other officials.
The spokesman added that Iran’s position in these talks was once again communicated to the European Union officials.
Commenting on the information about the visit of Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kanani noted that the cooperation between Iran and the IAEA continues. This cooperation will continue within the framework of the agreement. The visit of the Director General of the IAEA to Iran can take place whenever necessary.
Iran’s nuclear program was the subject of the JCPOA, a deal signed by Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) on January 16, 2016. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the JCPOA and imposed new sanctions on Iran as of November 2018, affecting its oil exports and freezing its assets abroad. More than 700 banks, companies, and individuals were also targeted by the sanctions.
Iran has been trying to resume talks with the other parties on its nuclear issue and revive the JCPOA. The main goals of Iran are to end the sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, access funds frozen abroad, and resume its crude oil exports.
Iran claims that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, but the IAEA has reported that Iran has increased its highly enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months and now has 4,745 kilograms of enriched uranium. This is 15 times more than the amount allowed for Iran in the JCPOA.
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