Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi attends a televised interview in Tehran on December 5, 2021. (Photo by president.ir)

President Ebrahim Raeisi defends the proposals that have been forwarded by Iran during negotiations held in Vienna to examine the prospect of the US’s removing its sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s opposite parties had thought that we would not participate in negotiations and would not have anything to say. They had thought that we do not have any initiatives to present, Raeisi told a televised interview on Sunday. Today, however, it was proven to the whole world that Iran would stage a powerful and estimable participation in the talks, he added.

The Islamic Republic has forwarded two documents pertaining both to the nuclear issue and the issue of the sanctions during the talks, the president said. Both of the documents perfectly match the contents of the JCPOA, the chief executive noted, referring by acronym to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the historic nuclear deal that was clinched between Iran and others in 2015.

President Raeisi’s remarks were apparently meant to refute allegations that have been made by the UK, France, and Germany that Iran’s proposals are not in line with the JCPOA’s provisions.

The European trio have been aligning themselves closely with the US’s policy of maximum pressure, under which Washington left the JCPOA in 2018 and returned the sanctions.

Friday marked the last day of the seventh round of the talks that have been held in the Austrian capital to look into the likelihood of Washington’s resumption of its obligation of lifting the sanctions.

The issue of removal of the sanctions was pursued powerfully, and the issue of neutralizing the sanctions is also being followed through, Raeisi said, vowing that the country would not allow the sanctions and their potential elimination affect its economic progress.