Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stressed on Wednesday that Iran will not compromise on any of its red lines in the talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
"Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi constantly highlights the necessity of observing the red lines set by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei aimed at neutralizing the sanctions while continuing the nuclear negotiations," Amir-Abdollahian told a summit of the Assembly of Experts, according to the Xinhua news agency.
All the US attempts to establish new political and security arrangements in the region without Iran's presence have ended in failure, he claimed.
Iran is pursuing a balanced foreign policy that prioritizes the neighboring and Asian states, said Amir-Abdollahian, adding the government has not tied the domestic economy and people's livelihood to the fate of the nuclear deal.
His comments come as there appears to be a delay in the negotiations between the US and Iran on a return to the deal.
Iran last week announced it had submitted its comments to the US response to the European Union’s draft for reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
While Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at the time that Iran’s response was prepared based on a constructive approach, a senior Biden administration official told Politico, “We are studying Iran’s response, but the bottom line is that it is not at all encouraging.”
Last Friday, a senior European official directly involved in nuclear talks with Iran told Axios’ Barak Ravid that Iran’s latest response to the EU’s proposal is unreasonable and indicates that the Iranians are not interested in closing a deal.
On Monday, the Iranian spokesperson once again insisted that Iran's response to the US viewpoints on the European Union's proposed final draft of a potential nuclear agreement was "constructive, clear and legal".
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that gaps remain between the US and Iran in the talks on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
“We’ve said this many times: We have taken a deliberate and principled approach to these negotiations from the start. If Iran is prepared to comply with comments — with its commitments under 2015 deal, then we are prepared to do the same,” she said.
Pressed on the timeline that President Joe Biden is looking at for an agreement, Jean-Pierre replied, “Look, it’s a regular back-and-forth. As we have said, we are studying the response in coordination with our E3 allies. As you know, we have received a response. Again, we’re not going to negotiate in public. Some gaps have closed in recent weeks but others have remained.”