TEHRAN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The sabotage and psychological operations of the United States in lifting its anti-Iran sanctions delayed the Vienna talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal to yield an agreement, Tasnim news agency reported on Friday, citing an Iranian source close to the negotiations.
"The main issue in the Vienna talks is the (U.S.) sanctions on individuals, companies, and institutions that play an effective role in Iran's economic benefit," the source was quoted as saying.
From the beginning of the talks, Iran has been calling for removing those individuals, companies, and institutions from the so-called "red list," and the American side has repeatedly used delaying tactics and links the removal to issues beyond the nuclear talks, he said.
The informed source added that "there will be no agreement without the lifting of these sanctions" and Iran has announced this to the United States and to the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, which is formally known as the JCPOA.
"The United States knows that it needs an agreement more than any other party to the JCPOA, therefore, these sabotage and psychological operations will be more to their detriment," the source noted.
Since April 2021, several rounds of talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and major parties to the deal, in a bid to restore the 2015 nuclear deal from which former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally in 2018 and reinstated sanctions against Iran.
