Iranian Prez holds phone call with Macron, urges removal of sanctions

Tehran, Feb 20 Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Saturday that any possible agreement between Iran and world powers in the Austrian capital of Vienna must include removal of anti-Iran sanctions and valid guarantees for the implementation of commitments, according to the presidential website.

Raisi made the remarks during a phone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Xinhua news agency reported.

"In the course of negotiations, the Islamic Republic of Iran has offered constructive proposals and has examined the proposals by the other sides of the talks and their compliance with the interests of the Iranian people," Raisi said.

He also warned against "political pressures or claims made with the aim of maintaining pressure on the Iranian people," which has undermined the prospect of reaching an agreement in the talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

For his part, Macron said that good progress has been made in the Vienna talks, expressing the hope that the talks would draw conclusions as soon as possible.

Former US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, which prompted the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments one year later and advance its halted nuclear programmes.

Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and the remaining parties, namely Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, with the US indirectly involved in the talks, to revive the landmark deal.

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