TEHRAN – An Iranian official has warned against Israel’s sabotage acts against Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying that Tehran can no longer tolerate these “terrorist” moves.

In remarks to Al Jazeera, the Iranian official said, “Israel's targeting of our peaceful nuclear program and its terrorist movements are no longer tolerable.”

The official also pointed to the visit of European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Iran, who pushed for resumption of the stalled talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. 

He said the venue for talks will be moved from Vienna to a Persian Gulf state, possibly Qatar. 

“We seek to achieve a robust and strong agreement, and this requires Washington's recognition of our national interests,” the official said, adding, “Tehran cannot be subjected through sanctions, threats and the language of force, and these are useless methods.”

Talks with Borrell were frank, in-depth, detailed and highly responsible, according to the Iranian official. 

In Tehran, Borrell met on Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani. 

Amir Abdollahian said he had fruitful talks with Borrell.  “Met @JosepBorrellF in Tehran. Fruitful talks on a range of bilateral, regional & int. issues, incl. the latest on the sanctions lifting negotiations. A final deal is within reach, if other parties have the will to do so. Iran is resolute on reaching a good, strong & durable deal,” the Iranian foreign minister said on Twitter.

Amir Abdollahian announced on Saturday that Iran is ready to resume nuclear talks to lift sanctions on Iran by reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Amir Abdollahian said the decision was made after detailed and in-depth talks with Borrell.

“The talks to remove the sanctions imposed on Iran will be resumed soon," Amir Abdollahian said in a joint press conference with Borrell.

Amir Abdollahian added, “Today we had long and positive talks about cooperation between Iran and the European Union. We are seeking balanced relations in the area of foreign policy and in this relationship the European Union and European countries have an important position. We are seeking to develop our relations with different countries on the European continent.”

Amir Abdollahian also said Borrell in a phone call had asked him how the EU could follow up on the stalemate that became more complicated after the anti-Iran resolution was submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors.

The foreign minister then said Borrell sought to get his opinion on how to get out of this stalemate.

The chief diplomat said if Tehran's dividends from the nuclear deal are not guaranteed it will not be acceptable.  

“What is important for the Islamic Republic of Iran is the full economic benefit of Iran from the agreement reached in 2015, and any issue that cannot guarantee our full economic benefit will not be acceptable to the government of Ayatollah Raisi and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iran’s top diplomat noted.

Borrell also said, “My visit to Tehran has one main objective: give new momentum to the negotiations and bring the nuclear deal, JCPOA, back on track.”

He added that as the coordinator of the talks to revive the JCPOA, he felt that a break in the negotiations was necessary.

“Since I paused the Vienna talks, three months have passed. We need to break the current dynamic of escalation and speed up our work. We need to close the deal now,” the chief EU diplomat said, adding that the resumption of talks is a decision made by both Tehran and Washington.