Iran: US 'imposing new conditions' in nuclear talks

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Iran's Foreign Minister warned on Sunday that Washington is "imposing new conditions" in the talks aimed at re-establishing the 2015 nuclear deal.

"On the issue of lifting sanctions, they (the Americans) are interested in proposing and imposing new conditions outside the negotiations," state news agency IRNA quoted Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying.

He added that in the last two or three weeks, the American side has made excessive demands that contradict the deal.

For a year, Iran has been negotiating in Vienna with France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China, as well as the United States, to resurrect the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the US unilaterally withdrew from during Trump's term.

"The Americans keep talking about the need for direct negotiations, but we have not seen the benefit of direct talks with the United States," Amir-Abdollahian said.

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New achievements: Raisi

In a statement at the National Nuclear Technology Day, attended by Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday, Eslami said the AEOI managed to prepare the Comprehensive Strategic Document of Iran's Nuclear Industry for the two decades to come. 

Eslami said the AEOI has achieved 77 successes in various nuclear-related disciplines and that President Raisi would reveal nine of the most significant ones, including:

1- The Comprehensive Strategic Document for Nuclear Industry;

2- the first sample of silicide fuel disks to replace Tehran Research fuel;

3- designing and manufacturing detoxification system for pistachios using cold plasma;

4- designing and manufacturing a cold plasma system for cancer treatments;

5- three brilliant achievements in radiopharmaceuticals in cancer treatment;

6- developing sustainable zirconia powder production technology;

7- designing and manufacturing laser source for micromachining used in building tiny parts with high accuracy.

Close talks 

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, "We are near an agreement in Vienna, and we have passed on our proposals on the remaining issues to the American side through the EU senior negotiator, and now the ball is in US court."

This came in a phone conversation between the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Iranian FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during which they discussed several issues including the armistice in Yemen and the developments in Afghanistan and Ukraine.