Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stressed that his country wants to continue negotiations in an effort to revive the nuclear deal, but not under pressure and threats from Western powers, stressing that the talks should end sanctions.
In a direct interview with him on Iranian television on Saturday evening, the first since he took office, Raisi said that his government refuses to negotiate for the sake of negotiation, as he put it.
He added that the sanctions imposed on Iran are rejected, and that Washington has failed to achieve any result through the sanctions policy.
The Iranian president also said that the country's interests will be the priority, and that his government will not retreat from the rights of the Iranian people one step.
Regarding the goal of negotiations with the major powers, Raisi said, "What we want to achieve from these negotiations is to lift the unjust sanctions against our people."
The Iranian president's statements in which he spoke about his government's desire to continue negotiations come at a time when the United States and the European Union countries - which are still involved in the 2015 nuclear agreement - are calling on Tehran to return quickly to the Vienna talks, which were suspended last June after 6 rounds of negotiations. With the approaching presidential elections, which resulted in a major victory.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, the US special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, said the administration of President Joe Biden "cannot wait forever" for Iran to decide to resume talks on returning to the nuclear deal while continuing its nuclear progress. France, Germany, Iran to immediately return to talks.
Washington and Tehran alike say that negotiations cannot continue indefinitely, and while the Biden administration stresses that Iran must return to its obligations under the nuclear agreement, Tehran insists that reviving the agreement - from which the administration of former US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 - subject to the lifting of US sanctions.
Penalty addiction
For his part, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Saturday that the current US administration is continuing the policies of the administration of former President Donald Trump - which he described as failed - towards Iran.
Commenting on the US Treasury's decision to impose sanctions on 4 Iranian figures, Khatibzadeh added that Washington must realize that it has no choice but to abandon its addiction to sanctions policy, and treat Tehran with respect.
On Friday, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on 4 Iranian figures it believes are behind what it described as a failed plot to kidnap an Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist from New York.
Recently, the Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, said that the United States has exceeded the limits of rudeness in dealing with the issue of the nuclear agreement, adding that the Biden administration is no different from the Trump administration, as it adopts the same demands regarding the nuclear file.
Western countries insist that Iran return quickly to the Vienna talks - which began in April - amid a state of concern raised by a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on the acceleration of uranium enrichment activities in Iran.