Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi demands US guarantees and closure of probe by IAEA to revive 2015 nuclear deal

New York: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday said that the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal was not possible without a guarantee from the United States that it would not withdraw from the accord again and also the closure of the ongoing probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) into its various nuclear sites.

During a press conference, Raisi also signalled to the failure of attempts at the United Nations General Assembly to break the deadlock to revive the nuclear agreement. "What is the use of having a revived deal without assuring guarantees that the U.S. will not violate again?" the Iranian President said as quoted by Reuters.

Earlier Raisi blamed European powers and the US for the failure to revive the deal. Notably, the deal put a check on Tehran's uranium enrichment activity and make it tougher to develop nuclear weapons in return for lifting international sanctions.

Also Read: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi lashes out at US, demands removal of sanctions for progress in talks to revive 2015 nuclear deal.

On Tuesday, Raisi met French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA session. Even during the meeting with Macron, Raise demanded US guarantees and closure of the probe by the IAEA.

The negotiations to revive the accord began in April 2021. The deal was about its revival in March this year. However, the talks between the US and Iran failed as Tehran wanted that Washington should remove its elite Revolutionary Guards from the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO] list.

The nuclear deal was signed in 2015 in Vienna, between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, the European Union and Germany. The then US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018. After that Iran also increased its Uranium enrichment activity. Till now, two rounds of indirect talks between the US and Iran have taken place so far.