Iran and P5+1 group of international mediators will not reach a final agreement until US stops supporting sanctions policy against Tehran, the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television on Wednesday.

"US offers to strike a deal with Iran without rejecting sanctions policy, though agreements made with P5+1 group in Geneva and Lausanne envisage lifting all sanctions from Tehran in case of reaching a final comprehensive agreement. We are now at a very sensitive and responsible stage of working at the agreement, trying to bring the positions of the sides closer and finally reach an agreement if it is possible," Araghchi said.

"The Islamic Republic [or Iran] demands lifting all sanctions," he stressed. "US cannot keep the existing sanctions policy and at the same time try to reach success at talks with Iran," Araghchi said. The deputy foreign minister also noted that Iran and other countries participating in talks have already reached an agreement on lifting all financial and economic restrictions on the day of signing the document. However, there are still disagreements on supplying arms to Iran, he added.

"The [arms] embargo itself is not that important for Iran as its defense industry has reached the high level of development on its own. The main point is that no sanctions should remain in place in case of reaching an agreement with Iran. There are currently from 7 to 10 unresolved issues at talks with P5+1 countries, and only 2 or 3 from them are major and important. The rest are minor technical issues," Araghchi stressed.

The deputy foreign minister said the text of the agreement is almost ready and only several points remain in the main text that are still open and require a political decision from the foreign ministers of P5+1 group. "If we are talking about the text’s readiness in percent, it stands at around 96%," he noted.

Answering a question about another possible extension of the deadline for reaching a final agreement, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said: "Iran does not see any restrictions in terms of deadlines for completing negotiations. We are ready to continue them as long as necessary. Deadlines are not sacred or constant. Someone maybe have set some deadlines for themselves, but we are ready to stay here as long as possible. A good agreement is the only thing that matters to us," he concluded.

The final round of talks between Iran and the six powers (US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) on Teheran’s nuclear program is currently underway in Vienna. A final comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear dossier was originally expected to be elaborated by June 30 but the negotiating process has been extended until July 7. On Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the deadline has been extended once again as the sides need several more days to reach the final comprehensive agreement.

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