TEHRAN – Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, an interim Friday prayer leader in Tehran, has said Tehran will continue to hold talks with Europe with a pessimistic attitude.

“Our nation does not pay attention to the other side’s empty and imaginary promises … We are only after their practical measures and still hold talks with Europe but with sheer pessimism,” Haj Ali Akbari told worshippers.

In line with its policy to reduce commitment to the JCPOA in response to the sanctions, Iran announced on Thursday that it will remove limits on nuclear research, a move which the cleric said will be more fruitful than the previous two.

In May 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He then returned the previous sanctions and imposed new ones against Tehran.

On May 8, 2019, exactly one year after the U.S. withdrawal, Tehran began to take steps to reduce its commitments to the JCPOA at 60-day intervals, which were designed in order to give time to the European parties to the deal to meet Iran’s demands.

The Trump administration, In spite of its hostile “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, has offered to directly negotiate with Tehran.

Back in June, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei categorically rejected the possibility of talks between Iran and the U.S., saying the U.S. president is not worthy of having a dialogue with.

MH/PA