TEHRAN— In a phone conversation with his Omani counterpart, Iran's foreign minister emphasized that Iran's recent response to the EU text was presented with the aim of speeding up and facilitating the conclusion of negotiations.

According to the official statement of the Iranian foreign ministry, Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Badr al Busaidi, the Omani Foreign Minister spoke over the phone on Friday. 

The conversation was surrounding issues of mutual interest, as well as talks to revive the joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the JCPOA. 

While thanking Oman, Amir Abdollahian briefed Busaidi about the latest developments related to the sanctions-removal talks and the response sent by Tehran to the European coordinator on Thursday night.

In this conversation, Amir Abdollahian emphasized Iran’s will to achieve a good, stable and strong agreement.

In the process of preparing the response of the Islamic Republic of Iran, speeding up and facilitating the conclusion of negotiations has been considered, the Iranian chief diplomat said. 

For his part, Oman's foreign minister thanked Tehran’s active and constructive approach, expressing hope that the Vienna talks would achieve the expected results with the cooperation of all parties.

Iran sent its response to the U.S. amendments to the EU proposal late Thursday, as announced by the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani. The response, as the Tehran Times has learned is intended to facilitate the conclusion of the talks and has announced its readiness for a ministerial meeting in Vienna as early as next week. 

Amir Abdollahian said on Wednesday that Tehran is reviewing the U.S. response to the European Union draft proposal aimed at reviving the JCPOA, but stressed the importance of "stronger guarantees" from the American side. 

"We have received the American side's last text, and my colleagues are closely studying the response with the required [level of] rigor and speed," Amir Abdollahian said at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to Press TV.

Tehran needs "stronger text and stronger guarantees" to wrap up the negotiations that started in April 2021 to revive the pact and to lift sanctions on Iran, as stated by various high-ranking officials. 

Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian also criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), urging the international body to stick to its "technical duty", and drop the "political behavior" towards Iran’s nuclear program.

The IAEA has accused Iran of non-cooperation, a charge Tehran has vehemently rejected as "baseless".

Iran has repeatedly called on the IAEA to honor its technical duties, warning it against being influenced by the Israeli regime.

Amir Abdollahian said he also discussed the status of bilateral relations with Lavrov, including Iran's commercial, economic, transit, defensive, and security relations with Russia.

"We are pleased that the countries' relations are (moving) in the right direction," the top Iranian diplomat remarked.

He also said a roadmap devising the path ahead of the countries' strategic relations would be implemented "in the near future" following ratification by the nations' respective parliaments.

Meanwhile, Nour News, a media affiliated with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council tweeted Friday morning, “An agreement that does not have strong guarantees and does not put an end to Safeguards claims will definitely not be stable and reliable, and this requires the political decision of the United States.”

A U.S. official told Politico on Friday, “We are studying Iran's response, but it is not encouraging at all, and it seems that we are going backwards.”