TEHRAN, 06 November 2021, (TON): Iran will not back down “in any way” in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said, a day after all sides announced the resumption of nuclear talks between Tehran and major powers on Nov 29.

Washington said “it hoped the talks would see Iran willing to negotiate in good faith on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, while Iran s top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said the talks would cover the removal of “unlawful and inhumane sanctions”.

The negotiations that started in April have been on hold since the election of hardline cleric Raisi in June.

Raisi, under personal U.S. sanctions over allegations of human rights abuses in his past as a judge, said Iran seeks the “lifting of all U.S. sanctions and neutralisation of sanctions”, sounding an uncompromising tone ahead of the Vienna discussions.

Iranian state TV quoted Raisi as saying “the negotiations we are considering are result-oriented ones. We will not leave the negotiating table … but we will not retreat from the interests of our nation in any way.”

Under the 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers, Tehran curbed its uranium enrichment program, a possible pathway to nuclear arms, in return for the lifting of U.S., U.N. and European Union sanctions.