TEHRAN, 24 January, 2021, (TON): A senior Iranian diplomat says the Islamic Republic of Iran has had no contact with the administration of new U.S. President Joe Biden, stressing that any possible talks could only be held within the "right format” of a 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement signed between Tehran and major world powers.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said in an interview to newspaper that "Currently, we are not interested in making any direct contact and we think that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the right format, and [any possible] talks should be conducted in that framework.”

Iran has “realistic” demands from Biden’s administration, which are the lifting of sanctions by Washington and its returning to the nuclear deal he added, according to the Press TV.

"I don’t see other alternatives. We have negotiated in good faith and implemented the JCPOA in good faith. It is now up to the new administration to correct the mistakes of their predecessors. The U.S. is the party that has abandoned the agreement: it is up to them to decide what to do,” he said.

To re-enter the agreement they must remove all the sanctions they have imposed on Iran, Araqchi said. "We are ready to fulfill all our commitments as per the JCPOA provided that the Americans live up to their obligations and lift sanctions.”

In response to a question about efforts by the European signatories to the nuclear deal – Britain, France and Germany – to include non-nuclear issues in the JCPOA, he said, "There will be no JCPOA plus, there will not be another agreement, there will not be new negotiations on the JCPOA.”

He also rejected calls for inclusion of Iran’s missile power in any talks.

The Iranian diplomat said Tehran has no “particular stance” on the transfer of power in the US as it is just waiting to see how the new president intends to correct former President Donald Trump’s wrong positions.

Sanctions have been a significant component of U.S. policy towards Iran. In May 2018, the U.S. withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement under which the U.S. had relaxed its sanctions program. US re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions lifted by the accord and launched a push to fully destroy the agreement by trying to dissuade the remaining signatories from staying in the agreement, threatening sanctions against any party that refuses to cut business ties with Tehran in defiance of American sanctions.