Iran accuses Israel of opposing regional dialogue

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has accused Israel of opposing regional dialogue and making efforts to thwart the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement concluded between Tehran and world powers.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Khatibzadeh said that Tel Aviv has opposed the nuclear agreement from the beginning. He added, however, that his country does not care about Israeli positions.

Commenting on the talks currently taking place in Vienna to revive the 2015 deal, the Iranian official said that the principle of step for step in the Vienna talks is “not on the table”. He insisted that Iran will not negotiate or make concessions on its security, and although it is not in a hurry in the negotiations, it will not allow time to be lost.

Khatibzadeh accused Western parties in the Vienna talks of not being serious about the Iranian proposals. He stressed that Tehran would not accept anything less than what was stipulated in the original nuclear agreement.

“Washington is not a member of the nuclear agreement [having been withdrawn unilaterally by Donald Trump in 2018] and has no right to criticise others,” he said. US sanctions constitute a “real obstacle” to moving forward in the talks.

READ: Iran does not want interim deal on nuclear programme