Upcoming nuclear talks will progress rapidly if the United States and European parties abandon any requests beyond the 2015 agreement and adopt a constructive approach, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Saturday. In a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Amir Abdollahian praised Moscow's "constructive and positive" position regarding the Iranian nuclear program, according to a briefing on the Iranian foreign ministry's official website. Iran "takes into account" earlier developments in the Vienna talks under the previous government, and will "forcefully" defend its position in the upcoming dialogue, he said. Although Iran is pessimistic about the U.S. intentions, the minister noted, it will return to full compliance with the landmark agreement if the United States does the same, without putting forward additional demands. Amir Abdollahian said Tehran will maintain its technical cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but stressed that the agency's director-general must abstain from political positions. According to the Iranian briefing, the Russian foreign minister said all sides must return to full compliance with the 2015 agreement, and first and foremost the United States. Lavrov said Russia has always stressed the necessity for the United States to stop the action detrimental to the nuclear agreement. On Wednesday, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani announced an agreement to resume the Vienna nuclear talks for the revival of the nuclear deal on Nov. 29, after a several-month hiatus following the change of government in Iran between June and late August.
