Iran to continue nuke talks until final agreement: president

TEHRAN, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran will continue nuclear talks in Vienna until a final agreement is reached, official IRNA news agency reported.

Despite all the pressures from U.S.-imposed sanctions and "economic war" and the economic consequences of COVID-19 pandemic, Iran's industry has been able to achieve production growth in the past Iranian calendar year ending March 20, Rouhani said.

U.S. maximum pressure campaign against Iran has proved "ineffective," he noted, lauding what he called the "triumph" of the Iranian nation in the face of U.S. sanctions.

Earlier, Rouhani said the "main agreement" to revive the nuclear deal, commonly known as the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has already been reached in the talks, and Iran's counterparts have agreed on the need to lift "all main sanctions."

The U.S. government under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and unilaterally re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

In response, Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its JCPOA commitments from May 2019. Incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to return to the deal and ease sanctions against Iran.

The JCPOA Joint Commission began to meet offline on April 6 in Austria's capital Vienna to continue the discussion about a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA.