'Iran ready to return to 2015 nuke deal commitments'

TEHRAN: Iran is ready to return to its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, the senior advisor to the country's Supreme Leader said.

"Today, we have necessary nuclear capability, but we do not intend to produce a bomb ... (as) we consider the production of (nuclear) bombs forbidden on the basis of our (religious) beliefs," Xinhua news agency quoted Kamal Kharazi as saying at an event here.

"And from a strategic point of view, we do not consider it a path-breaker because if Iran moves toward nuclear weapons, a nuclear race will begin in the region," the former Foreign Minister added.

Possessing a nuclear weapon is not necessarily a component of security, but "having nuclear technology is a deterrent and shows our ability", he noted.

Kharazi emphasized that Iran is ready to return to its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), when many relevant problems have been solved so far.

The only remaining issue is about safeguards, which will be hopefully resolved during the upcoming visit of the experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Tehran, he said.

Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country.

The US, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.

The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna.

No breakthrough had been achieved after the latest round of talks in August this year.