Iran says not allow talks of attrition in Vienna nuke meeting

TEHRAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Iran's top nuclear negotiator in the ongoing Vienna talks aimed to revive the Iran nuclear deal said on Sunday that his country will not allow talks of attrition, official IRNA news agency reported.

"The exact time cannot be predicted for the duration of talks. We will not allow attritional talks. If we feel that the other parties are not serious or intending to buy time or add other issues to the discussions, we will give up the negotiations," said Abbas Araqchi, who heads Iranian negotiating team in the ongoing talks with the representatives from Britain, China, France, Russia, and Germany in Vienna.

"At the same time, we are not in a hurry, because there are serious issues in the negotiations that need to be considered and discussed," he said.

Araqchi, who also serves as Iran's deputy foreign minister, made the remarks after a meeting with the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's parliament.

He echoed what Iranian top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said of Iran's approach to the nuclear talks: Iran will re-embrace its suspended obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), only after the United States removes its sanctions on Iran.

The senior Iranian diplomat rejected again the "long-abandoned step-by-step plan" to revive the nuclear deal.

According to the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions.

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