Answering a question on the possibility of being a scheduled meeting in Vienna, he said that there is no travel to Vienna to preview and the US is in close contact with the EU coordinator, who continues to convey messages back and forth.

The US will remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached, but it can be reached only if Iran would not raise issues that are extraneous to the JCPOA, he claimed

“We are preparing equally for either world, a world in which we have a JCPOA and a world in which we are forced to seek other means to be faithful to the President’s commitment,” he added.

The previous nuclear deal was signed by Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States), Germany and the European Union in 2015.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and imposed new illegal sanctions on Tehran.

The eighth round of Vienna negotiations was launched in late December 2021 and resumed in early February after a short break. In late March, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that parties to the Vienna talks were close to reaching a new agreement. “We seek the lifting of sanctions, but with dignity and with a lasting agreement,” the minister said later, adding that “Iran has stood and will stand by its red lines.”

MP/PR