MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2022) Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Monday said Iran would not accept the United States' demand to release imprisoned US citizens as a precondition to reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
On Sunday, US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley told Reuters that the US is unlikely to sign an agreement on the Iran nuclear deal unless Tehran releases four imprisoned US citizens, including businessman Siamak Namazi with his father Baquer, environmentalist Morad Tahbaz and businessman Emad Shargi.
Khatibzadeh responded by saying that Iran has never accepted preconditions for the talks, which are "complicated enough and shouldn't be made more complicated," as quoted by IRNA.
JCPOA was signed in 2015 by the United Kingdom, Russia, China, Germany, the US, France, the European Union, and Iran, imposing restrictions on the advancement of the Iran nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions. In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from JCPOA and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Iranian authorities responded with a gradual retreat from JCPOA obligations. The eighth round of talks began on December 27, 2021.
