A meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Joint Commission is held in Vienna, Austria, June 20, 2021. /Xinhua
A meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Joint Commission is held in Vienna, Austria, June 20, 2021. /Xinhua
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani on Saturday called for the removal of U.S. sanctions that could benefit Iran economically.
"Real, effective and verifiable economic benefit for Iran is a necessary condition for the formation of an agreement" in the ongoing Vienna talks, Shamkhani tweeted.
"A show of lifting sanctions is not considered constructive," he said in response to Friday's restoration of a sanction waiver by Washington, which allows civilian nuclear cooperation projects between Iran and the international community.
Earlier in the day, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also said that the recent U.S. sanction waiver on Iran is "insufficient" for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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Iran says U.S. sanctions waiver 'good but not enough'
The JCPOA was signed in 2015. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the pact in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, which prompted the latter to breach some of the deal's restrictions one year later, and advance its once-halted nuclear programs.
Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held between Iran and other remaining parties in the Austrian capital of Vienna to revive the deal.
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency