Iran's president urges full implementation of nuke deal

TEHRAN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday called for full implementation of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, commonly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to official IRNA news agency.

"The JCPOA must be implemented well. We want the implementation of the same JCPOA document, neither a word less nor a word more," Rouhani made the remarks in a cabinet meeting, adding that Iran doesn't want "a JCPOA plus."

Rouhani stressed that the new round of talks about the nuclear deal should aim to map out three steps.

"The first step is the lift sanctions by the United States ... As the second step, we want to verify the lift of sanctions thereafter," he said, adding that at the third step, Iran will implement its own commitments under the deal.

Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments in May 2019, one year after the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tuesday that the latest round of the nuclear talks in Vienna are "progressive" despite "existing difficulties."