Iran says it still believes a nuclear deal with world powers can be reached

Iran says it still believes that negotiations can succeed to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, despite a recent rebuke from the UN nuclear watchdog.

“We believe negotiations and diplomacy are the best ways to reach the final point of the agreement,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says during a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Tehran.

Amir-Abdollahian says that prior to the IAEA move to formally censure Iran last week, Tehran had put forward a new initiative that the US had accepted, adding that Washington nonetheless moved to submit the resolution censuring Iran.

But the Islamic Republic will not abandon negotiations, he says, adding that “contacts in the diplomatic fields will continue” through the European Union.

Iran “will not distance itself from… diplomacy and negotiations to reach a good, strong and lasting agreement,” Amir-Abdollahian notes.