TEHRAN, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- A top Iranian security official said on Wednesday that Tehran will hold no talks beyond the scopes of a 2015 nuclear deal with the "oath-breaker" United States and "idle" Europe.
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani tweeted the United States and Europe have failed the test of fulfilling their commitments under the nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
He noted that at present, the JCPOA has turned into an "empty shell" for Iran, failing to produce any economic dividend or lift the sanctions.
His tweet read "No negotiations beyond the JCPOA will be held with the oath-breaker United States and idle Europe."
Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, which prompted the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments one year later and advance its halted nuclear programs.
Since April 2021, eight rounds of talks have been held in Austria's capital Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties, namely Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, with the United States indirectly involved in the talks, to revive the landmark deal.
