Iran is ready to start nuclear negotiations on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York if “the other parties are willing,” the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi said Monday in a video posted on his Telegram channel. .

The US, under then-President Donald Trump, withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear deal signed in 2015 by Iran and six world powers under which Tehran was expected to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to revive the deal have stalled. Iran is still officially part of the deal, but has scaled back commitments to adhere to it due to US sanctions reimposed on the Islamic Republic.

“I will stay in New York for a few more days after the Iranian president leaves and have more meetings with various foreign ministers. We will focus our efforts on starting a new round of talks on the nuclear pact,” Araktsi said.

He added that messages had been exchanged through Switzerland and a “general statement of readiness” had been issued, but warned that “the current international conditions make the resumption of talks more complicated and difficult than before.”

At the same time, Araktsi emphasized that he will not meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken as he noted that “I don’t think it would be appropriate to hold such a dialogue. There have been such meetings in the past, but there is currently no suitable ground for such a thing. We are still a long way from having direct talks.”

Since the renewal of US sanctions during the Trump administration, Tehran has refused to negotiate directly with Washington and has worked mainly through European or Arab intermediaries.