Bagheri Kani: "The West needs to pay a price for having failed to uphold its part of the bargain."

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister and lead negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, said in an article to the Financial Times, published one day ahead of the 7th round of the Vienna talks, that Iran's first goal of the Vienna talks is to "gain a full, guaranteed and verifiable removal the sanctions imposed on the Iranian people."

The second is to "facilitate the legal rights of the Iranian nation to benefit from peaceful nuclear knowledge." Bagheri Kani went on to say that the West is not seeking to implement a deal," rather it is out to "force Iran to make more concessions in areas unrelated to the nuclear issues."

He stressed that for Iran to ensure any future agreement is "ironclad", "the West needs to pay a price for having failed to uphold its part of the bargain. As in any business, a deal is a deal, and breaking it has consequences."

In order to secure the "rights and interests" of Iran, the negotiating team will base its discussions on the principles of "guarantee" and "verification". As for the threat of sanctions, Baghi Kani said: "Iran did not succumb to the use of either military threats, economic sanctions or 'maximum pressure' under Trump and it will not do so under Biden."

JCPOA evidence of US interests opposing those of the region: Raisi

"Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement proves that its interests are incompatible with those of our region," Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi asserted Sunday.

Raisi's words came during the Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Turkmenistan, where he also said joint cooperation served the region's interests, something Iran was ready for, he explained.

"Iran has undertaken an approach aimed to develop cooperation with neighboring countries and the region," Raisi revealed Sunday, adding that the means needed for developing Iran and enhancing bilateral and regional cooperation is already there.