Agreement on revival of nuclear deal "within reach" if U.S. quits "contradictory behaviors": Iranian FM

TEHRAN, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that an agreement on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will be "within reach" if the United States stops its "contradictory behaviors," the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks to reporters on Friday in New York while elaborating on his meetings on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), said the report.

"We believe that, in view of the prisoner swap conducted between Iran and the U.S. earlier this week, if the American side quits its contradictory behaviors and shows its real intention, achieving an agreement for all parties' return to the JCPOA and the removal of sanctions on Tehran will not be out of reach," the report quoted the minister as saying.

Amir-Abdollahian noted that he met with members of an American think tank and a number of former U.S. officials in New York to explicitly discuss bilateral issues, one of which was the "wrong" approach of the U.S. toward Iran and the JCPOA.

Iran and the U.S. conducted a prisoner swap on Monday, with each side releasing five detainees under a Qatar-brokered agreement.

Also on Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Iran is open to indirect nuclear talks with the U.S. on the sidelines of the UNGA, which had seen the attendance of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, leading a high-ranking delegation.

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

The talks on the revival of the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved since the end of the last round in August 2022.