Iran will not back down "in any way" in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday, a day after all sides announced the resumption of nuclear talks between Tehran and major powers on Nov 29.
Washington said it hoped the talks would see Iran willing to negotiate in good faith on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, while Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said the talks would cover the removal of "unlawful and inhumane sanctions".
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addressing the UN General Assembly remotely last week
(Photo: AFP)
The negotiations that started in April have been on hold since the election of hardline cleric Raisi in June.
Raisi, under personal U.S. sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said Iran seeks the "lifting of all U.S. sanctions and neutralization of sanctions", sounding an uncompromising tone ahead of the Vienna discussions.
"The negotiations we are considering are result-oriented ones. We will not leave the negotiating table... but we will not retreat from the interests of our nation in any way," Iranian state TV quoted Raisi as saying.
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World powers meet with Iranian officials in Vienna to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal
(Photo: Reuters)
Under the 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers, Tehran curbed its uranium enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear arms, in return for the lifting of U.S., U.N. and European Union sanctions.
But former U.S. President Donald Trump quit the deal in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors that have crippled its economy, prompting Tehran to breach limits set by the pact on its nuclear work.