Iran thanks Iraq for helping revive nuclear deal

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday thanked Iraq for bringing closer the views of Tehran and the West on the 2015 nuclear deal and for facilitating tension-easing talks with Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

At a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Baghdad, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian appreciated Iraq’s efforts in helping revive the nuclear deal, which was put on the back burner after the former US administration walked out of it in May 2018.

Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran is ready to “finalize the agreement” and supports the “path of diplomacy and dialogue”. He, however, said that Iran has been receiving “conflicting” messages from the US.

He warned that if Washington continues to “disrupt” the negotiations, underway in Vienna since April 2021 and stalled since August last year, Tehran will be forced to take up its “Plan B”, without elaborating.

He also urged the UN nuclear watchdog to resolve outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear activities, shortly after Iran's nuclear agency chief said a team of agency inspectors is in Tehran.

Amir-Abdollahian also lauded Baghdad’s efforts in facilitating Tehran’s fence-mending talks with Riyadh and Cairo.

Relations between Iran and Egypt, which severed in 1980, have seen many fluctuations in between. The two countries have, however, lately started talks to resume full diplomatic ties.

Saudi Arabia snapped its diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy was stormed by protesters in Tehran angry over the execution of a Shia cleric in the Arab country.

Baghdad has been brokering talks between the two regional arch-foes since April 2021.

Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran supports an “independent, strong and developed” Iraq, adding that the country must not allow “separatist and terrorist” groups to target Iran.

He also held separate talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, stressing the need to “pay Iran's bank claims, maintain and control the border, and the necessity of exercising Iraq's full sovereignty in preventing any threatening movements against Iran”, his office said in a statement.