STORY: Iran blames West's "miscalculations" for failure to conclude nuclear talks
DATELINE: Sept. 5, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:00
LOCATION: Tehran
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani addressing the weekly press conference

STORYLINE:

Iran on Monday blamed Western states' "miscalculations about the riots in Iran" for the failure to conclude talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal in September last year.
   
At a weekly press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the final draft resolution of the talks was ready to be concluded in September 2022 to prepare the ground for all sides' return to the deal, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.
   
However, the United States and its European partners "had miscalculations after the unrest in Iran and invested in the riots ... and lost the opportunity (to reach an agreement) by foot-dragging and refraining from concluding the negotiations," he said.
   
In response to a question about the likelihood that the European Union would refuse to cooperate regarding the lifting of the restrictions on Iran's missile program based on the "sunset clause" of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Kanaani said Tehran will take corresponding measures based on the other side's actions.
   
While the Iranian administration will remain committed to the diplomatic process to remove the sanctions, it will at the same time pursue the "neutralization" of the embargoes, said the spokesman, adding the Islamic republic has managed to export its oil to global markets and maintain its relations with friendly countries despite the sanctions.
   
Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.
   
The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. No breakthrough has been achieved after the latest round of talks in August 2022.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tehran.
(XHTV)