Sanctions, sabotage not to help U.S. as negotiating tools: Iranian FM

Tehran (Iran), April 14: U.S. officials should understand that neither sanctions nor acts of sabotage on Iran's nuclear facility will work in their favor at the ongoing nuclear talks, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday.
"We have no problem returning to nuclear deal commitments ... but the Americans should know that neither sanctions nor sabotage will give them the means to negotiate, and that these actions will only make the situation more difficult for them," Zarif said at a joint press conference with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.
A blackout struck the Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran on Sunday morning. Israeli media widely reported that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was behind a cyberattack that caused the incident. The White House said on Monday that the United States was not involved in the attack.
"It is also necessary for the United States to return to its commitments without any delay and to lift all sanctions," Zarif said.
Sunday's development has complicated efforts to rescue the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Nuclear talks were held in Vienna this month, with the lifting of sanctions on Iran and nuclear implementation measures topping the agenda.
Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments in May 2019, one year after the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Zarif also lauded Russia's stance against the recent sabotage in Iran's Natanz nuclear site and stressed the need for continued cooperation between the two countries.
Source: Xinhua