Iran announced on Sunday that it has received, via Qatar, messages from countries participating in the stalled 2015 nuclear deal talks.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian made the announcement during a press conference in Tehran with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The Iranian official did not provide any details about the details of the messages, but he welcomed the efforts made by Doha to revive the nuclear negotiations that have been stalled for months.
He thanked Qatar for its efforts "to return all parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to their obligations."
In turn, Sheikh Mohammed asserted that Qatar always seeks to create a suitable environment for holding additional negotiating rounds on the nuclear agreement, adding that the US sent several nuclear deal-related messages to Doha to convey to Tehran, but perhaps not directly.
Neither of the two ministers revealed the details of the US message and what it would entail.
The Qatari FM tweeted that he met Amirabdolahian and discussed "bilateral relations and the latest developments in the nuclear deal file."
"Qatar looks forward to promoting joint efforts that leave a positive impact on society and the region," he said.
During the press conference, Amirabdolahian stressed that Iran has always welcomed regional dialogue to ensure strong and stable cooperation, accusing the US and its allies of "economic terrorism" against Iran.
"We thank Qatar for its efforts to lift the sanctions. Qatar is trying to return all JCPOA parties to their commitments. Today, we received messages from the other parties of the JCPOA through the Foreign Minister of Qatar. We thank Qatar for its goodwill to bring all parties to the final steps of the agreement," he added.
Doha has previously tried to bridge views between Iran and the US on the nuclear agreement.
Sheikh Mohammed touched on the importance of boosting economic and trade cooperation with Iran, stressing that Doha is looking forward to strengthening its relations with all regional countries.
Iran and Western countries began talks in Vienna in April 2021 to revive the nuclear agreement after Washington unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, but the discussions have yet to achieve any tangible progress.
Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, announced on Tuesday that he intends to visit Iran in February to hold talks to get Tehran to resume cooperation on its nuclear activities.
Grossi referred to the "big, big impasse" in the negotiations and said that Iran's withdrawal from the agreement, including its disconnection of 27 IAEA cameras monitoring its declared nuclear sites, means that the IAEA is no longer effectively watching Tehran's nuclear program.
He stressed that the agency could not monitor what was going on for "at least a year," hoping to be "making some progress" on restoring Iranian cooperation with his agency during his planned visit.
Grossi stressed that this "trajectory is certainly not a good one," speaking of Iran's recent nuclear activities, including enriching uranium to a level higher than specified in the JCPOA.
"They have amassed enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons — not one at this point," he said, listing 70 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity and 1,000 kilograms at 20 percent.
