TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that the country is ready for negotiations “based on honour and dignity” to address concerns about its nuclear program and lift sanctions. He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in Tehran, in reply to a question about the likelihood of negotiations between Iran and the United States.
Baghaei said Iran always believes in dialogue, stressing that Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi had explicitly declared the country’s latest position that “we are ready for dignity and honor-based negotiations on lifting sanctions and removing concerns about the nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.”
“This is our fixed position. However, the form of (any potential) negotiations should be decided after considering all aspects including other sides’ approaches and performances,” Baghaei added. He noted that the new round of talks between Tehran and the E3 group of France, Britain, and Germany would be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on January 13-14, during which a range of issues, including developments in West Asia, bilateral ties with the European Union, Iran’s nuclear program, and removal of the sanctions on Tehran, would be discussed, Xinhua news agency reported.
Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to scale back its commitments under the deal.
The talks to revive the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved.
