Tehran, May 13 (IANS): Iran will implement the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty again if sanctions imposed by the US against the country are lifted, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.

"Resuming the voluntary implementation of Additional Protocol is predicated on sanctions being lifted. If possible, we would like to get to it before May 21," Araqchi, who is leading the Iranian delegation in the ongoing Vienna nuclear talks, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Iran stopped implementing the Additional Protocol on February 23, as mandated by a law ratified by Parliament in December 2020.

In his tweet, Araqchi added that Iran is "serious and determined" in current negotiations, and ready to return to full implementation of the 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), "even tomorrow" once sanctions are "verifiably lifted".

The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 -- US, Britain, Russia, France, China, plus Germany together with the EU.

Tehran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear weapons program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions.

Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments in May 2019, one year after the previous US administration led by Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned the agreement and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.

The JCPOA Joint Commission started meetings in the Austrian capital on April 6, aiming at getting the US to return to the deal and Iran to resume full compliance with it.