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West, US must take first step in JCPOA talks — Iran’s ambassador to Russia

Over the past 20 years Tehran has never refused to hold negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, but the Western countries have repeatedly stopped the dialogue, Kazem Jalali stressed

MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. The Western countries in general and the United States in particular must take the first step in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear deal, because at the moment Tehran does not trust them, Iran’s ambassador in Moscow, Kazem Jalali, said in an interview on the Russia-24 round-the-clock television news channel on Friday.

"We are ready for equitable negotiations, but in the current conditions we distrust the West on the whole and the United States, in particular. Now they must take the first step [in negotiations on a nuclear deal]. They must act," Jalali said.

Over the past 20 years Tehran has never refused to hold negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, but the Western countries have repeatedly stopped the dialogue, he stressed.

"We signed the JCPOA and implemented it. Your country, both as a member of the IAEA and as a member of the UN Security Council, was able to see for itself that we complied with everything. Who was the first to withdraw from the JCPOA? The Americans. What logic did they follow? They had no logic," Jalali stated.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (the Five Plus One Group) signed a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran in 2015 for addressing the crisis over its nuclear research. The previous president of the United States, Donald Trump, decided to withdraw from this agreement in 2018. The current US leader, Joe Biden, has repeatedly signaled his willingness to bring Washington back into the Tehran nuclear deal. Russia, Britain, Germany, China, the US and France have been negotiating with Iran in Vienna on restoring the JCPOA to its original shape since April last year.