Feb 21, 2022: Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi has urged the United States to prove that it is ready to lift sanctions in indirect talks to save the 2015 nuclear deal.

Raisi’s remarks came during a visit to Qatar on Monday as talks continue in Vienna aimed at restoring an agreement between Iran and world powers, which saw limits imposed on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Addressing a joint news conference alongside Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at Doha, “Guarantees are essential to reach an agreement in the nuclear talks,”

The U.S unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 under former President Donald trump. Trump said it was not tough enough and embarked on a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Tehran, including harsh new sanctions. Iran has maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful. The Biden adminsitration has been trying to revive the deal.

Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that “significant progress” has been made and the number of outstanding obstacles had been “considerably reduced”.

“But the problems that remain are most difficult, the most difficult and most serious to be resolved,”

The Emir of Qatar, whose foreign minister recently held talks in Washington and Tehran, said his country was ready to do everything possible to help find a mutually acceptable solution in Vienna. Earlier, Qatar and Iran signed bilateral agreements during the first visit to Doha by an Iranian president in 11 years, during which the president will attend a summit of gas exporters on Tuesday.

“We have today expanded our cooperation in the fields of economy, energy, infrastructure, culture and food security,” the president said.

Prior to his visit to Qatar, Raisi expressed hope that his visit would enhance relations with other Gulf Arab states and stressed Iran’s status as a founding member of a forum of major oil and gas producing countries and gas exporting countries. According to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, the Iranian oil minister said that unilateral sanctions against the forum members pose a threat to global energy security and that Iran has provided the best option for gas exports to the East and the West.

Qatar has good relations with Iran, with which it shares large gas field. Tehran backed Doha after Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies imposed a boycott of Qatar in mid-2017 on a number of issues, including relations with non-Arab Turkey and Iran.

The Gulf conflict was resolved early last year, and the Gulf power house Saudi Arabia, which is embroiled in several proxy disputes with Iran, including Yemen, but is in direct talks with Tehran to defuse tensions.

Iran has experienced a shortage of domestic gas due to record high consumption, especially in the winter, due to domestic heating, and has had to cut off supplies to cement plants and other industries.

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