Tehran: Iran's nuclear talks with the world powers should lead to the removal of sanctions against the Islamic republic all at once, Iranian nuclear negotiator Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi said Tuesday.
Tehran was opposed to any gradual lifting of the sanctions and "will not agree to the sanctions being removed one by one," Takht-e-Ravanchi, also deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, was quoted as saying by Press TV.
Iran would not accept the classification of sanctions into economic, commercial and political categories, he said, adding that "the West must remove the sanctions against Iran all at once".
Criticising the West for making excessive demands in the talks over settling the nuclear issue, Takht-e-Ravanchi said it is time for the West to take a "tough decision" regarding a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran, Xinhua reported citing Press TV.
Western countries seemed to be interested in settling Iran's nuclear issue but there were still people who, as before, sought to disrupt the process of nuclear talks, he was quoted as saying.
The Iranian official added that Tehran was not seeking to extend the nuclear talks and was trying to reach a comprehensive deal with the P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the US plus Germany -- before the Nov 24 deadline.
Iran and the P5+1 group agreed in July to extend the talks for four more months till Nov 24, as they could not narrow down significant gaps on core issues during the past six months.
The two sides met again recently in Austria's Vienna without any major breakthrough. The next round of meetings between Iran and the P5+1 group will be held Nov 18 in Vienna, according to semi-official ISNA news agency.
