TEHRAN, July 13 Not Iran, but Western countries are ready to talk about normalizing relations, the actions of European states indicate that they are not ready to find a compromise with Tehran, Russian Ambassador to Iran Alexey Dedov said in an interview.
«Their (Europeans — ed.) latest steps — the adoption of an anti-Iran statement at the session of the IAEA Board of Governors — indicate that the West is not ready to find a compromise with Iran… It is not Iran, it is the West that is not ready for a serious conversation with Iran on the issue of normalization of relations,» the ambassador said.
According to Dedov, “this was demonstrated quite clearly by the results of the election of Mr. Pezeshkian: most world leaders, including ours, congratulated him on his election, but in Iran they did not receive any congratulations from the leaders of the Western world. To some extent, the South can be considered in this orbit Korea and Japan, but these (countries — ed.) limited themselves to congratulations on behalf of their foreign ministries.»
In early June, Moscow, Tehran and Beijing, in a joint statement issued as part of the agenda of the sixth meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, said they were convinced that the time had come for Western countries to take steps to restore the agreement on the nuclear deal; Russia, China and Iran were ready for this.
In 2015, the UK, Germany, China, Russia, the USA, France and Iran concluded a nuclear deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which included the lifting of sanctions in exchange for limiting Iran's nuclear program. The United States, under President Donald Trump, withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated sanctions against Tehran. In response, Iran announced a phased reduction in its obligations under the agreement, abandoning restrictions on nuclear research, centrifuges and uranium enrichment levels.
In December 2021, Iran voluntarily allowed the IAEA to replace cameras at the Karaj nuclear facility; the agency was not previously given access there to install surveillance cameras or confirmation that the workshop had not resumed production of rotor tubes and centrifuge bellows. At the same time, Tehran reported that it would provide data from surveillance cameras from a nuclear facility in the city of Karaj only after the lifting of all American sanctions.