Iran says Jordan summit ‘good opportunity’ for nuclear talks

By AFP 19 December 2022, 3:27 pm

Edit

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian speaks during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister in Moscow, August 31, 2022. (Maxim Shemetov / Pool / AFP)

Iran’s foreign minister says that a summit to take place this week in Jordan is a “good opportunity” for negotiations aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear accord.

On-off talks to revive the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), started in April last year between Iran and France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the United States indirectly.

But the indirect talks between the US and Iran, mediated by the European Union, have stalled for several months with the Islamic Republic facing protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin.

“Jordan [visit] is a good opportunity for us to complete these discussions,” Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tells reporters in Tehran.

“I hope that according to the approach of the Americans in the last three months, we will see a change of approach and the American side will behave realistically,” Amir-Abdollahian adds.

“I clearly say to the Americans that they must choose between hypocrisy and the request to reach an agreement and the US return to the JCPOA.”