President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami delivers a speech at the 67th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, on Sept 25, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

TEHRAN - Iran's atomic chief said on Monday that despite the unilateral cruel sanctions, the country will continue "peaceful" activities in the field of nuclear science and technology to promote the well-being of the Iranian people.

President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami made the remarks while delivering a speech at the 67th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the Austrian capital Vienna, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency.

Iran will continue the peaceful design and development of nuclear research reactors, accelerators, and irradiation systems as planned, and is committed to increasing its nuclear electricity generation to 20,000 megawatts per year by 2040, he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the country will make its decision on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal based on Washington's "practical action"

He said Iran stays committed to its obligations under the safeguards agreement Iran reached with the IAEA and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has done its best to enable the agency to easily carry out its verification activities of the country's nuclear program.

Thus, he added, Tehran seriously expects the IAEA to maintain neutrality and professionalism in its verification reports on Iran's activities, adopting a realistic approach in this regard, and close the case pertaining to a number of differences between the two sides as soon as possible.

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On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the country will make its decision on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal based on Washington's "practical action," not its repeated "positive messages".

He made the remarks in an interview with Iran's official news agency IRNA at the end of his seven-day trip to New York for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The minister said Tehran has received positive messages from Washington but will judge those messages based on America's "political action."

Amir-Abdollahian said the exchange of indirect messages between Iran and the United States continues, stressing that Tehran will continue its efforts to lift the sanctions through diplomacy and negotiations.

He said "We, under no circumstances, tolerate the US hypocritical moves and behavior. It is not like that everything always necessarily passes through the JCPOA's channel (for Iran). Iran's hands are not tied."

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He emphasized that if the Americans and other parties have the necessary determination, an agreement will be within reach under the framework of the previously-held negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna and based on Iran's priorities.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. The US, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.

The talks on the revival of the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved since the end of the last round in August 2022.