TEHRAN - Wang Yi, the Chinese state councilor and foreign minister, said on Friday that the U.S. should first lift all the sanctions it has imposed on Iran in order to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the JCPOA.

Wang made the remarks as negotiations are underway in Vienna to possibly revitalize the agreement, which was abandoned by the Trump administration in May 2018.

“To return to the deal, lifting sanctions on Iran first is the natural thing to do,” Wang said in an address to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Press TV reported.

The Chinese foreign minister, whose country is a party to the deal, added, “As the negotiations for the United States and Iran to resume compliance with the agreement are now in the final sprint, parties concerned need to make a political decision as quickly as possible and redouble diplomatic efforts to bring the JCPOA back on track.”

Wang once again reiterated China’s position that the JCPOA has been endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and is “an important outcome of multilateral diplomacy and a key pillar of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and peace and stability in the Middle East (West Asia).”