According to Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iran foreign ministry, Tehran does not rule out the prospect of a meeting on the topic of resurrecting its 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers at the annual UN General Assembly in New York.
Months of indirect negotiations between Iran and the US have failed over several issues, including Tehran’s insistence that the IAEA end its investigation into uranium traces discovered at three unreported sites before the agreement is revived and a US pledge that it would not withdraw from another nuclear deal.
“Ali Bagheri Kani, the head of the nuclear negotiating team, will be in attendance at the General Assembly as a delegation member, although there is no set schedule for talking about the nuclear agreement. I do not, however, rule out the prospect of holding discussions over the nuclear agreement, Kanaani added.
Tehran, he said, has never walked away from the bargaining table.
However, Kanaani ruled out the idea of a private meeting in New York between Iranian and US officials.
Since 1979, there has been no official exchange between Tehran and Washington, and their differences continue today.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran would be serious about reviving the nuclear agreement if there were assurances Washington would not withdraw from it once more, as happened in 2018 under then-US President Donald Trump, who said the agreement was too weak.
We would be serious about agreeing if it’s a good deal and fair deal, Raisi added.
Iran has violated the restrictions on uranium enrichment set down in the 2015 agreement, which saw Tehran curtail its contested nuclear program in exchange for a reprieve from international sanctions.
