VietJoy

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is ready to "return to its commitments" under the 2015 nuclear deal when other parties uphold their commitments.

Rouhani's office issued a statement Monday after his talks in Tehran with the new European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.

Iran's official news agency quotes Rouhani as saying that Iran will continue cooperating with international nuclear inspectors "unless we face a new situation."

IRNA did not elaborate on what kind of situation Rouhani was talking about.

Iran has been backing away from the nuclear deal since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out in 2018 and imposed sanctions.

Britain, France, and Germany are working to keep the agreement alive.

Borrell's trip to Tehran is part of what is called the dispute settlement mechanism under which Iran would enter negotiations to keep the deal alive and avoid taking matter to the U.N. Security Council, where the  agreement could end.

Under the 2015 deal also signed by China and Russia, Iran would curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from sanctions that have wrecked its economy.

After the U.S. killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in January, Iran announced it is no longer bound by the limits on enrichment spelled out in the agreement.