TEHRAN - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday that the United States needs to revise its policy of draconian sanctions against Iran so as to help revitalize the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

“The utmost must be done so that the negotiations ensure the restoration of what’s known as the ‘factory settings’ of the JCPOA,” Ryabkov said, according to TASS.

“Political will is now required. From the U.S. side, it is important to prove and demonstrate in practice that the sanctions policy, which has been carried out over the recent years is being reviewed and the Iranian side is given the opportunity to reap those economic advantages that are included in the package of agreements that lies at the heart of the JCPOA,” the Russian diplomat said.

The JCPOA was inked by Iran and six world powers in 2015, under which Tehran agreed to put limits on certain aspects of its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions imposed against the country.

In 2018, however, the U.S. exited the nuclear pact and began to unilaterally implement what it called the maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic, effectively depriving Iran of the deal’s benefits by forcing third parties to stop trade with Iran.

Iran remained patient for an entire year, after which it began to take incremental steps away from its nuclear obligations due to the other parties’ proven failure to secure its contractual interests.

Iran’s move was based on paragraph 36 of the JCPOA which “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.”

On Wednesday, Amir Abdollahian’s deputy, Ali Baqeri-Kani, who is Iran’s lead negotiator at the talks, made it clear that the nuclear issue is already resolved, emphasizing that the focus would be on the lifting of all of Washington’s illegal sanctions.

Iran has repeatedly reassured the other JCPOA signatories that it will resume full compliance with its nuclear obligations under the deal after the U.S., as the instigator of the current crisis, removes all of its sanctions and gives Iran a guarantee that it will not leave the deal again.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh once again spelled out what the U.S. must do to regain its JCPOA membership and restore the deal.

The U.S. must agree to return from the path it took as the party to blame for the current situation, he told reporters at a press briefing.

Khatibzadeh explained that the U.S. then needs to remove all the cruel and illegal sanctions it imposed on Iran after its unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal “in one go and in an effective way.”

Then the U.S. has to guarantee that “no administration in the United States would belittle the world and international law” again by repeating the withdrawal from the JCPOA, he added.

In an interview with The Guardian on Thursday, Bagheri Kani also said wants guarantee the U.S. will not quit a renewed nuclear deal. He also said all sanctions must be lifted before Tehran returns to full compliance with the 2015 agreement.

Bagheri Kani reiterated Iran’s position that lifting “illegal and inhumane sanctions” as the main purpose of the upcoming talks in Vienna.

The talks for resuming the nuclear talks will begin on November 29.

"Our main objective is to remove the illegal sanctions that they have imposed on the Iranian nation in breach of UN resolutions," Bagheri Kani said.