Iran rejects deadline set by West to revive nuclear agreement

Iran yesterday announced that it will not accept any deadline set by the West to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, Reuters reported.

The agency said Tehran also demanded that “politically motivated” claims by UN watchdog the IAEA about its nuclear work be dropped.

“We have answered the agency’s (IAEA) questions or politically motivated claims… that we think were baseless. These dossiers should be closed,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

“Iran accepts no deadlines,” Khatibzadeh added, according to state TV.

For its part, the Iranian official news agency IRNA reported that Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, will return to Vienna after going to Tehran for consultations with Iranian officials.

Iran nuclear deal: Some progress but tough issues remain – US Official

According to the agency, Kani will “resume negotiations with a clear agenda aimed at resolving” the remaining issues.

Iran wants to lift the oil and banking sanctions that harm its economy.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said his country is ready to “immediately conclude an agreement” if Western powers showed real will.

Meanwhile, a senior US State Department official said on Friday that negotiators have made significant progress in the past week or so on reviving the agreement, but there are still very difficult issues.