TEHRAN – Iran's new Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, who served as the lead negotiator during the talks that resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has indicated that reviving the deal will be more complex than it once seemed.

"Reviving those negotiations is not as easy as it was in the past," Araqchi remarked during an interview on national TV. The foreign minister said significant events, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and its impact on European security, have fundamentally altered the geopolitical landscape. "The Gaza war, the attack by the Israeli regime, and the massacre that has taken place there have also completely transformed the regional conditions," he explained.

The JCPOA was inked in 2015 between Iran and the 5+1 group of countries namely the U.S., UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia. The deal limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the termination of sanctions, which Washington reimposed against Iran when it unilaterally left the deal in 2018. Since the start of the Biden administration, Iran and the remaining signatories to the pact have held multiple rounds of negotiations to revive the JCPOA, all to no avail.  Reports suggest that Washington and its European allies are seeking to expand the nuclear pact and limit Iran’s defensive military programs as well.

"New negotiations need to take shape; of course, as I mentioned, the conditions in Europe are tough, and in America, they are caught up in elections, so it will not be easy," Araqchi added.

The top diplomat previously said that while Iran will be seeking to terminate the sanctions, its top priority is to neutralize them as is not guaranteed that Tehran and the West would eventually manage to revive the JCPOA. 

During his Saturday interview, Araqchi emphasized that the JCPOA, in its current form, is no longer viable. "Some of the dates that were set have already passed, and therefore, the JCPOA in its current form cannot be revived," he asserted before calling for a reevaluation of the agreement, stating, "In a sense, this document must definitely be reopened, and parts of it must be amended."

In the past, some Iranian officials have stated that Tehran seeks concrete guarantees from the U.S. ensuring that Washington will not withdraw from the nuclear deal again.