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Iran says resumed Vienna talks must focus on sanctions lifting

11 November 2021 00:10 (UTC +04:00)

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said on Wednesday that the upcoming Vienna talks must focus on the lifting of the sanctions against Iran, APA reports citing Xinhua.

"Just let me insist on this: we are not holding nuclear talks, since the nuclear issue was fully agreed in 2015, in the form of the agreement between Iran and the P5+1," Bagheri Kani told Iran's IRIB state TV after his meeting with Philippe Errera, a senior French official, in France's capital Paris.

The main issue to be discussed is the consequences of the U.S. abandonment of the 2015 agreement, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), said the Iranian deputy minister, who is also Iran's senior negotiator in charge of the Vienna talks.

Those consequences are limited to "the illegal sanctions" against Iran only, he added.

The Iranian official said he was hopeful that the way for successful talks can be paved in his scheduled meetings with officials from several European countries this week.

Speaking about his meeting with Errera, director-general for political affairs and security at the French foreign ministry, Bagheri Kani said it was "detailed, frank, serious, constructive and forward-looking."

The Iranian negotiator noted France's potential positive role concerning the JCPOA and other international matters in the coming months, as the country will take on the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2022.

After France, Bagheri Kani was expected to meet German officials in Berlin soon.

The JCPOA Joint Commission is scheduled to reconvene in Austria's capital Vienna on Nov. 29, with the participation of delegates from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain, and Iran.

The United States, which pulled out of the international agreement in May 2018 under former President Donald Trump, is expected to engage in the talks indirectly.