BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 23. Iran has never been the party to stop or withdraw from discussions regarding its nuclear program, said Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, TurkicWorld reports.
Speaking during a press briefing in Tehran on December 23, Baghaei emphasized that Iran has always remained committed to dialogue over the past two decades, seeking to address concerns and resolve issues through negotiation.
He explained that when considering whether Iran should continue talks, it is crucial to first focus on the situation and reasons behind the challenges related to its nuclear program. Then, Iran will make decisions based on the behavior of other parties, Baghaei added.
To note, the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Action on Iran's nuclear program was implemented between Iran and the P5+1 group (the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany) in January 2016. The US announced in May 2018 that it was withdrawing from the plan and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. Iran has announced that there will be no restrictions on the Iran nuclear deal in 2020.
However, in May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
Two years later, Iran responded to the sanctions by implementing a strategic plan for the nuclear sector to counter them. The Iranian parliament made this decision at the end of 2020, leading to the suspension of additional measures and the Additional Protocol following the nuclear agreement.
Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 20–30 percent.
Iran has officially affirmed that its strategy is not to pursue the development of an atomic bomb and that it does not support the production of weapons of mass destruction.
