Iran Will Not Negotiate With US Under Pressure - President Rouhani

TEHRAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2020) Tehran will not negotiate with the United States under pressure, Washington must first lift the sanctions and reinstate its commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday.

"If the United States returns to the nuclear deal and lifts sanctions, they can negotiate within the P5+1 group. Until this happens, there will be no opportunity for negotiations," Rouhani said during a press conference broadcast on Iranian television.

He also touched on security in the middle East, indicating that Tehran is interested in a stable region, for which the Iran-sponsored Hormuz Peace Initiative has been proposed. According to him, security in the region cannot be ensured without Iran.

The JCPOA, often referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, was signed in 2015 by Iran, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and the United States.

However, in May 2018, the United States pulled out of the agreement, which aimed to curb Iran's nuclear activity, and re-introduced sanctions against Tehran - a move that triggered criticism from European countries.

Iran started to gradually reduce its JCPOA commitments in May 2019. In January of this year, the country's government announced that it was discontinuing all remaining obligations under JCPOA. However, Tehran said it was ready to return to fulfilling its obligations if sanctions were lifted and was going to continue cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Germany, France and the United Kingdom have threatened to trigger the JCPOA dispute resolution mechanism in order to press Iran to respect its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.