TEHRAN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian ambassador to Iran said Iran has made "reasonable" demands for guarantees and verification of lifting U.S. sanctions in the ongoing talks on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.

"Do you remember that European and Asian companies came to Iran after the JCPOA agreement, but they fled Iran because of the threats of the U.S. government," Levan Dzhagaryan told IRNA in an interview.

Formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal was signed between Iran and the world powers in July 2015. However, the U.S. government under former President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran.

"Therefore, Iran's demands for guarantees and verification of the lifting of sanctions are natural and based on a bitter historical experience," Dzhagaryan was quoted as saying.

Regarding the talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna over the revival of the deal and lifting U.S. anti-Iran sanctions, he said Iran's positions are "very positive," adding that he is "optimistic" about the future of the negotiations.

His remarks came one day ahead of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's planned visit to Moscow for talks on bilateral and international issues.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to the international organizations in Vienna, tweeted on Monday that Iran is "absolutely right" to ask for guarantees from Washington after the latter's unilateral withdrawal.

"Some people don't want to learn lessons from the failed maximum pressure policy. Iranians are absolutely right when they ask for guarantees against a repetition of this catastrophic adventure," Ulyanov said. Enditem

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