Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran�will not accept the� US demand that it resume full nuclear compliance before Washington lifts sanctions on Tehran.��
The demand �is not logical and will never�happen�, he said at a joint news conference in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu Friday.
Former US�President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Iran�s nuclear deal in 2018. Under the deal, Tehran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

After the US�then ramped up sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal�s limits on its nuclear development.

New President Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the US�to the deal. But new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the US will only return to the nuclear deal once Tehran honors its nuclear commitments.

�The United States unilaterally withdrew from this comprehensive course of action,� Zarif told journalists, speaking through an interpreter. �It is the duty of the United States to return to this agreement and to fulfill its obligations.

�The moment the United States fulfills its commitments, we would be prepared to fulfill ours,� he added.

Zarif said the US withdrawal from the nuclear pact, officially referred to as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is a blatant example of Washington�s �law-breaking�.

�Unfortunately, the US is used to imposing sanctions,� Zarif added, Turkey�s state-run Anadolu news agency�reported.

Zarif denounced a US decision last month to slap sanctions on Turkey over the country�s purchase of the S-400 Russian air defense system.
�We condemn the US CAATSA sanctions imposed on Turkey, these sanctions have no significance,� he emphasized.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Zarif hailed relations with Turkey, noting that ties will deepen when the US adopts more reasonable attitudes.

�Iran-Turkey relations are very important for us and filled with mutual benefits,� he remarked.

For his part, Cavusoglu said Turkey has always supported the nuclear deal, expressing the hope that the Biden administration would return to the JCPOA and lift sanctions on �brotherly Iran�.

Zarif was in Turkey as part of a tour of countries of the south Caucasus aimed at building support for the creation of a regional platform that would include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey, and encourage cooperation between the countries.

The initiative was proposed following a cease-fire agreement in November that halted weeks of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

�The existing cease-fire must be rendered more lasting and trade and economic cooperation must be invigorated,� Zarif said.

Zarif was in Turkey as part of a tour of countries of the south Caucasus aimed at building support for the creation of a regional platform that would include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey, and encourage cooperation between the countries.

The initiative was proposed following a ceasefire agreement in November that halted weeks of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over�Karabakh.

�The existing ceasefire must be rendered more lasting and trade and economic cooperation must be invigorated,� Zarif said.