Iran's newly appointed foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said his country will not accept protraction in talks with the United States over the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Six rounds of those talks have been held in Vienna between the moderate government of former President Hassan Rouhani and the remaining signatories of the accord, namely the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. The United States, which abandoned the deal in 2018, has been indirectly engaged to draw an agreement on its re-entry. Negotiations, however, have been on hold since June 20 to allow for a transition in Tehran, where hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi has taken office and appointed Amir-Abdollahian as the top Iranian diplomat.

Unlike his predecessor, Mohammad Javad Zarif — who is known as the architect of the JCPOA — the new Iranian foreign minister has maintained a tough stance toward world powers and the United States in particular. In an interview with state TV's channel 2 on Aug. 30, Amir-Abdollahian criticized officials in Washington for their "unconstructive remarks." The Iranian foreign minister was referencing his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, who warned back in July that the nuclear talks "cannot go on indefinitely."

"They need to abandon such rhetoric," Amir-Abdollahian said, "because it does not send a positive message to the Iranian people." While the European Union has stressed the need for a resumption of the Vienna talks, no specific timetable has been set by the parties involved. The Raisi government has not ruled out continuing the negotiations but has also refused to unveil a roadmap.