Iran: Joint statement on nuclear dispute 'not constructive'

Iran has harshly criticized a joint statement by the governments of Germany, France and Britain in which they raised "serious doubts" about Tehran's commitment to ending the years-long dispute over restoring a nuclear agreement.

"The recent statement by the European troika was unbalanced and not constructive," Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on Sunday, as talks appeared to be deadlocked once again.

Iran deeply regrets that the three countries preferred to sabotage "the diplomatic trend" rather than try to resolve the remaining differences with goodwill, he said.

If they continue on this course, they will ultimately be responsible for a failure of the nuclear negotiations, the spokesperson said, according to the ISNA news agency.

The governments of Germany, France and Britain had criticized Iran in a joint statement on Saturday for not wanting to conclude the agreement on the table.

In light of this, they said would discuss how best to address "Iran's continued nuclear escalation" and unwillingness to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the statement said.

The 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran, aimed at preventing the country from developing nuclear weapons, has been on hold since the US withdrawal in 2018.

The aim of the ongoing talks is to lift US sanctions against Iran and to reinstate restrictions on Tehran's nuclear programme. Just over a week ago, Iran submitted a new proposal to end the dispute - in response to a proposed compromise by the EU. Details were not disclosed.