Iran presses for unfettered crude exports as nuke talks resume

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran is insisting that the United States and its allies promise to allow Tehran to export its crude as negotiations on restoring the tattered nuclear deal were to resume in Vienna.

The remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian signal that Iran is pressing its position ahead of the negotiations over reviving the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The talks have struggled to make headway and were adjourned earlier this month after a round marked by tensions over new demands from Tehran.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Amirabdollahian says Iran wants the upcoming round of talks to focus on its sanctions-hit oil industry. The aim is to get to the “point where Iranian oil is being sold easily and without any barriers and its money arrives in Iran’s bank accounts,” he says.

As the parties to the atomic deal prepared to convene, Amirabdollahian says Iran wanted to “be able to enjoy full economic concessions under the nuclear deal.”

“Guarantee and verification (of the removal of sanctions) are among topics that we have focused on,” he says.

The new, conservative administration of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has repeatedly demanded the removal of all economic sanctions before Iran reins in its nuclear advances.

Separately on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh says it would be “intolerable” for the West to demand anything from Tehran beyond compliance with the original deal.