US sanctions on Iran must be lifted in an effective manner

Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, made the comments while talking to journalists on Monday afternoon after saying that the foreign ministry has forwarded a quarterly report on the Vienna talks on reviving the Iran nuclear deal or the JCPOA to the Iranian parliament.

"Given the progress made, we can say that we are close to the end of the Vienna talks. Some unresolved issues remain, but what matters is that the weight of unresolved issues far outweighs the unresolved issues. We have come a long way, but it will not be easy. We hope that the other parties can make their own decisions so that we too can reach an agreement that will be in everyone's interests," Khatibzadeh said.

The spokesman added, "In Vienna, all delegations acknowledge that relatively good progress has been made and all agree on their seriousness to continue on the path and reach an agreement to revive the JCPOA, but they also agree there are some key issues that need to be decided upon by decision-making bodies in their respective countries."

He also noted, "What everyone in our country agrees on is that, firstly, US sanctions must be lifted in an effective manner and, secondly, any excessive demands beyond the JCPOA have nothing to do with this agreement. It has been repeatedly stated that the Islamic Republic of Iran will resume its full compliance with the obligations as soon as the nuclear deal is fully implemented and verified."

Khatibzadeh also pointed out that, "From the Islamic Republic of Iran's perspective, the progress of the negotiations in Vienna...Not only a lot of draft texts have been prepared, but also the unfinished parts have also been identified and elaborated on that clearly show the differences.

This will help the decision-makers to realize what stage of the decision they are at."

The spokesman went on to say that, "Our stances have not changed since the beginning of the [Vienna] negotiations, and we call for the lifting of sanctions, their verification, and then the resumption of our country's implementation of commitments."

He also underlined that, "the United States, as a violator of JCPOA, must provide the necessary guarantees. In the Vienna talks, within the framework of national interests, we only pursue the goals set by high-ranking officials."

The spokesman of the foreign ministry added that the change in administrations in Iran will not affect the Vienna talks and the revival of the JCPOA.

He further noted that there are talks underway on prisoners swap between Iran and the United States and other countries that hold Iranian nationals in their prisons unjustly.

Khatibzadeh also said that with regard to the unfreezing of the Iranian funds in South Korea under the US sanctions, there has not been any major progress.

Elsewhere, he pointed out that Iran will continue its cooperation with Cuba on producing the joint anti-coronavirus vaccines.

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