The possible revival of the 2015 nuclear deal has become increasingly “useless” for Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Saturday. “Today, the more we advance, the more the JCPOA (acronym for the nuclear agreement in English, Editor’s note) becomes useless,” said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a speech to students at the University of Tehran .
Negotiations have been at a standstill since summer 2022
The 2015 agreement governing Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions was shattered following Washington’s withdrawal in 2018 decided by then-President Donald Trump. His successor, Joe Biden, tried to revive it, but the negotiations initiated between Tehran and the five countries still signatories (China, Russia, United Kingdom, France and Germany), with the indirect participation of the United States, are at the point dead since summer 2022.
“Given that (Iran’s) red lines have sometimes been ignored by the other side, we are not currently on the path to return to the agreement,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. “Of course, this does not mean that we have left the agreement aside. If the agreement serves our interests, (we will accept it) with all its flaws,” he added.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, called in October on the international community not to fail in Iran as it did in North Korea, which now has atomic bomb. Since 2021, the UN body has struggled to control Iran’s nuclear program, which continues to grow, although Tehran denies wanting to build an atomic bomb.