TEHRAN — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the main issues in the Vienna talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal have been settled, noting it is now possible to have the sanctions lifted right away.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Rouhani said his administration has done a great job by overcoming the “economic war” launched by Donald Trump on Iran.

Highlighting his administration’s success in bringing the U.S. to the negotiation table in Vienna and resolving major issues, Rouhani said if there is a will and if Iran’s top negotiator in the Vienna talks, Abbas Araqchi, is given the necessary authority, the administration would be able to have the sanctions lifted “today”. 

The president also noted that the next administration will have a much easier job in running the country, saying his administration has handled the situation under an unprecedented economic war that even faced problems importing medicine and foodstuff.

Rouhani said Iran’s non-oil exports in the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year have increased by 69 percent compared to the corresponding period last year, and a positive balance of trade has been recorded in the 3-month period.

The outgoing president also noted that the next administration will be in a much better position in regard to the situation created by the coronavirus pandemic, saying efforts will continue to supply the COVID vaccine as the homegrown vaccines will be soon available in the market.

In comments on Sunday, Rouhani boasted of his administration’s success in dealing with the foreign sanctions in an unequal battle, urging that his successor should be informed of the economic conditions and the measures taken during his tenure to settle the problems.

Raisi, the incumbent Judiciary chief, won the June 18 presidential election by a landslide.

In his first press conference after winning the election, Raisi took a swipe at the U.S. for violating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and at the European states for failing to honor their commitments under the nuclear deal.

“Americans should have lifted all sanctions under the JCPOA, but failed to do so. I advise the Americans to return to their commitments, and Europe should not come under pressure from the U.S. and (should) fulfill its commitments,” he said.

Talks to revive the JCPOA begun in Vienna on April 6. The talks are taking place within the JCPOA Joint Commission between Iran and the remaining members of the nuclear deal, namely the UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany. The negotiations are led by the European Union.

In line with his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, Trump left the JCPOA in May 2018 and restored the economic sanctions that had been lifted under the deal and added new ones under different labels.

On year after the U.S. quit the multilateral agreement Iran announced that its “strategic patience” is over and took retaliatory measures under the Paragraph 36 of the JCPOA.

(Paragraph 36 provided a mechanism to resolve disputes and allows one side, under certain circumstances, to stop complying with the deal if the other side is out of compliance.)