TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian says the U.S.

should abandon its excessive demands and instead take serious efforts toward reviving the landmark 2015 Iran deal. Amir Abdollahian made the statements during a phone call with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Monday evening, applauding the top EU official's and his deputy Enrique Mora's ongoing efforts to restore the Iran agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).The chief diplomat for Iran briefed the head of EU foreign policy on his recent conversations with counterparts from Italy and France, Luigi Di Maio and Catherine Colonna, respectively. He emphasized the need for Washington to give up its outdated strategy and the sanctions it has imposed on Tehran as part of the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign.“There is no doubt about the Islamic Republic of Iran’s determination to reach a good, strong and lasting agreement,” he stated.Amir Abdollahian also mentioned his recent talk with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, noting the necessity of facilitating unrestricted grain exports from Ukrainian ports.During the phone call, the Iranian foreign minister commented on Tehran's stance to food and energy security, referring to the tripartite summit in Tehran between the presidents of Iran, Russia, and Turkey.Borrell, for his part, praised Iran's constructive and serious intentions during the JCPOA revival negotiations and emphasized the importance of collaborative approaches to overcome the deadlock.The EU’s chief diplomat also praised Iran's efforts to remove the remaining barriers and resolve disputes to reach a final deal, underlining that he and Mora would go to whatever length to assist and speed the process through dialogue and engagement with all parties concerned.Late last month, Iran and the United States ended two days of indirect negotiations in Doha, Qatar, mediated by the European Union, in an attempt to break the deadlock in renewing the JCPOA.Iran and the EU agreed at the end of the talks that they will remain in touch regarding the continuation of the path and the next stage of negotiations.The Doha negotiations came after seven rounds of negotiations in Vienna, Austria, between Iran and the five remaining JCPOA members since April of last year.The Vienna negotiations were halted because Washington insisted on its refusal to undo its past wrongs through measures such as removing the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) from its foreign terrorist organization list.Iran says the designation of the IRGC in 2019 was part of former U.S.

President Donald Trump's so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, and that it must be overturned unconditionally.