TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister and lead nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif says much progress has been made in drafting a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear energy program, however the Western side’s tendency to continue anti-Iran sanctions and pressures should be abandoned.

Continued pressures and an agreement do not go together, Zarif told IRIB in Vienna on Friday, after a meeting with Austrian President Heinz Fischer.

“As I have mentioned several times, the Western countries need to make their political decision as to whether they are after an agreement or seek to continue pressures,” he underlined.

“Much progress has been made, but there still exist various technical and textual subjects,” Zarif stated.

Zarif said the West has repeatedly claimed to have the necessary political will to clinch a deal, but such determination has not been put into action.

“Sometimes, problems emerge in drafting [the text of the deal] that may indicate that there is an inclination to retain the [anti-Iran] sanctions, often in bureaucracies. We have to overcome these problems, too,” the top Iranian diplomat added.

MD/PA