Exchange of messages with U.S. to remove sanctions continues: Iranian FM

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, on Nov. 23, 2022. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said here Wednesday that the exchange of messages between his country and the United States for the removal of anti-Iran sanctions still continues. (Xinhua/Gao Wencheng)

TEHRAN, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said here Wednesday that the exchange of messages between his country and the United States for the removal of anti-Iran sanctions still continues.

"Despite the behavior of the Westerners in recent weeks, talks with the American side to lift the sanctions through the European Union and some intermediaries were on the agenda, while we did not cross our red lines," said Amir-Abdollahian in a press conference.

Amir-Abdollahian also said that Tehran and Washington still have differences on key issues in the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Resolving Iran's remaining issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency, receiving guarantees on the economic benefits of the deal for Iran, and removing the extension of sanctions to third parties are the three issues that need to be worked out, he noted.

Iran signed the nuclear deal with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed its sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA.

The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough had been achieved after the latest round of talks in early August.