Iran has proposed that the US Congress makes a “political statement” of its commitment to a nuclear accord with Tehran as talks in Vienna to revive the deal reach a critical juncture.

In an exclusive interview with the Financial Times, Hossein Amirabdollahian, foreign minister, said Washington had failed to address Iran’s demand for guarantees that no party is able to abandon the deal, as the US did under former president Donald Trump in 2018. Tehran also wants all sanctions imposed by Trump to be lifted.

“As a matter of principle, public opinion in Iran cannot accept as a guarantee the words of a head of state, let alone the United States, due to the withdrawal of Americans from the JCPOA,” Amirabdollahian said, using the acronym for the accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.