Iran says US waiver on sanctions ‘good but not enough’

By Nathan Morley

US steps on lifting sanctions are “good but not enough”, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Saturday. “The lifting of some sanctions can, in the true sense of the word, translate into their goodwill. Americans talk about it, but it should be known that what happens on paper is good but not enough.”

Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, called the waiver decision “a move in the right direction”.

Earlier this week the Iranian Foreign Minister called for a ‘stable and reliable’ nuclear agreement in the ongoing Vienna talks, aimed at resolving disputes between Iran and Western countries over the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The talks, which began last year to restore the pact following the withdrawal of the United States, have reached a crucial stage.

Despite the breaks in the process, the negotiations over the past few weeks are said to have made significant progress in the four areas of sanctions removal, nuclear commitments, verification and guarantees.

Iran's delegation says it has creatively and innovatively submitted its ideas in writing.

The JCPOA was signed in 2015 between Iran and major countries.

However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran.

Since last spring, several rounds of talks have been held between Iran and other remaining parties to revive the deal.