US should drop Trump's maximum pressure policy against Iran: Iranian spokesman

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that the current US government should stop following the maximum pressure policy by former President Donald Trump against Iran.

"The Americans took our time in six (previous) rounds of negotiations to preserve Trump's failed legacy," said Khatibzadeh, referring to the six rounds of negotiations between Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which were held in Austria's capital Vienna from April to June and were suspended after Iran's presidential elections.

Iran has entered into the new rounds of talks with good intentions and real will for fruitful talks and "I advise ... the real parties to seize this window of opportunity because this window will not remain open forever," he said during his weekly press conference.

"Equally, we are moving toward lifting oppressive sanctions and neutralizing the pressure lever," said the Iranian spokesman, noting the composition of the Iranian negotiating team in Vienna shows the extent to which Iran will focus on lifting sanctions.

Asked whether Iran would hold direct talks with the United States in Vienna, Khatibzadeh gave a negative answer.

"No. There will be no bilateral talks with the US delegation," he said.

Six rounds of talks were held between Iran and P4+1, namely Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, with the United States indirectly involved, from April to June. The new round of talks is scheduled to begin in Austria's capital Vienna on Monday after a hiatus because of the Iranian presidential elections in June.

The US government under Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement in May 2018 and unilaterally re-imposed sanctions on Iran. In response, Iran has gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments to the deal since May 2019.

Iran's new negotiating team has set out demands for the revival of the nuclear agreement, including the removal of all US sanctions, verification mechanism for the removal of embargo, and guarantees from the United States that next administrations will not breach the deal. (ANI/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )