News - Middle East: Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi says the country will not stop the negotiations on the removal of sanctions imposed on the country, adding that the other parties to the talks must return to their commitments under the 2015 deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Raeisi made the remarks in a late Saturday televised interview in which he addressed the nation on various domestic and international issues.

Asked about the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s visit to Iran, Raeisi said, “Our policy is to have the sanctions removed and these sanctions must be removed as soon as possible, because they are unjust and against the commitments of the US and Europe [under the JCPOA]. The other side must return to its commitments. This path will be followed; we follow the path of thwarting the sanctions.”

“The issue of [the sanctions removal] negotiations were discussed during the EU foreign policy chief’s visit to Tehran. We have no decision to stop the negotiations, but we will not back down from our positions,” Raeisi said in another part of the interview.

Iran’s chief executive said a headquarters has been set up under the direct command of the First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber to follow up on the removal of sanctions.

Negotiations have been held in the Austrian capital of Vienna since April last year to restore the 2015 Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was ditched by former US President Donald Trump in May 2018.

In quitting the agreement, Trump unleashed what he called the “maximum pressure” campaign to bring Iran to its knees. Washington also reinstall unilateral sanctions against Tehran, which had been lifted under the JCPOA. Tehran maintains that the policy has failed dismally. The Biden administration agrees, yet it has not taken any tangible steps to deliver on its promise of repealing the policy.

Iran has cited Washington’s indecisiveness as the reason behind the protraction of the talks, as a number of key issues remain unresolved, ranging from the removal of all post-JCPOA sanctions to the provision of guarantees by the American side that it will not leave the deal again.