Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani made the remarks in an interview with IRIB following his meeting with Director-General for Political Affairs and Security at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Philippe Errera on Tuesday in Paris.
"As you know, France will chair the European Union at the beginning of the new year for the first six months of 2022, and it can naturally play a transnational role," he said, adding that in this regard, it is a great opportunity to develop the relations between Iran and France on one hand, as well as for France to be more active in regional interactions and the upcoming Vienna talks on the other hand.
Referring to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's latest remarks on the revival of JCPOA talks, Bagheri Kani said that there won't be more talks on Iran nuclear issue because it [Iran nuclear talks] has been solved within an agreement between Iran and P5+1 in 2015.
The main issue in upcoming Vienna talks will be the consequences of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and its illegal sanctions on Iran, the Iranian diplomat noted.
The 2015 deal, more formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, the UK, China, Russia, and France — plus Germany and the EU. Despite the International Atomic Energy Agency's acknowledgement of Iran's adherence to all of its obligations, the US government unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in May 2018.
The US government has imposed sanctions under various pretexts in line with its hostile goals against Iran and the advancement of its economic war against Iran.
Amid the indifference of the JCPOA parties toward continued US violations of the JCPOA, in December 2020, the Iranian Parliament passed the Law on "Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions and Protect Rights of the People" that prompted the Iranian administration to restrict the IAEA’s inspections and accelerate the development of the country’s nuclear program beyond the limits set by the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
Iran has also increased the level of uranium enrichment beyond the level allowed under the JCPOA in accordance with the accord itself.
The current US administration has not yet fulfilled the promises Joe Biden made during his presidential elections campaigns to undo Trump's actions and return to the deal. In the meantime, Tehran has also stressed that the Biden administration's return to the agreement without lifting the sanctions is not important at all.
Meanwhile, Iran and the remaining signatories to the JCPOA known as the P4+1 with the indirect involvement of the United States have held six rounds of talks so far with no results. The Western powers made excessive demands during the talks and the talks were halted amid the change in the government in Iran till last Wednesday, the Iranian deputy foreign minister and the new top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani announced that the Vienna talks will start on November 29 after a five-month halt.
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