TEHRAN - Iranian presidential candidate Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh says if he is elected president, his administration will continue talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, Mehr-Alizadeh emphasizes, Iran will maintain its stance on the accord if the U.S. refuses to change its policy.

In an exclusive interview with Press TV and Arabic-language Al-Alam news networks broadcast on Saturday night, Mehr-Alizadeh, a former vice president, presented his views on foreign policy.

Talks in Vienna have been going on since early April between Tehran and the five remaining signatories to the nuclear deal — France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China — on how to get the U.S. to stop its anti-Iran sanctions and return to compliance with the international agreement.

The deal has been in turmoil since May 2018, when the U.S. under former president Donald Trump abandoned the agreement and slapped oppressive sanctions on Iran, including bans lifted under the agreement and new ones imposed with new labels.

Mehr-Alizadeh, a pro-reform presidential hopeful, stated that Trump made a "clumsy" choice to withdraw the U.S. from the pact, dealing another blow to America's credibility on the global stage.

“With Biden taking office, we expect that they [the Americans] would return to the route of the JCPOA, given the stances they have made thus far and with a shift in their approach,” Mehr-Alizadeh stated.

However, he stated that if the U.S. maintains its current attitude and refuses to abandon its previous policies, Iran will “stand solid on its positions.”

“We rely on our own economy, people, and the youth, and with the socioeconomic policies that my administration will pursue...we will be able to render the sanctions ineffective,” he stated.

The presidential hopeful stated that his administration would follow a “development-based” foreign policy in which it would try to prevent any friction in the international arena and interact with other countries in a “friendly and cooperative climate.”

He stated that he would “seriously” follow up on the JCPOA discussions so that his government could set the path for the country to overcome its economic problems and move forward.

Concerning relationships with southern neighbors, Mehr-Alizadeh stated that he would favor extending diplomacy with Persian Gulf governments, emphasizing that those that are at odds with Iran should be reminded of their "shared sources of strength" so that "we would be able to create excellent economic relations with each other."

He added that Iran's passage of measures linked to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will be beneficial in boosting trade with its Persian Gulf neighbors.

Stronger links with the Persian Gulf countries, according to the presidential contender, would relieve them of the obligation to restore relations with Israel and prevent the regime from entering the region.

Mehr-Alizadeh also hailed the anti-Israel resistance front for its efforts in preventing the growth of terrorism and foreign infiltration in the West Asia region.

He stated that he would continue to assist the resistance axis as well as the Muslim people in the region, particularly Palestinians.

SA/PA