Iran: We are working to finalize a memorandum of understanding; the focus of the negotiations is ending the war.

According to Mars Finance, on May 23, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghae stated in an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting that the current focus of negotiations is on ending the "imposed war," and that the nuclear issue will not be discussed in depth at this time. Iran and the US are working to finalize a memorandum of understanding. Baghae said that the current negotiations do not involve the specific details of the nuclear issue and the corresponding lifting of sanctions, but Iran's demands for the lifting of sanctions, especially the release of frozen assets, have been clearly written into the 14 articles of the memorandum of understanding. He stated that Iran is not discussing the nuclear issue in depth at this time because it believes that the nuclear issue has twice been used as a pretext for launching wars against Iran. Currently, Iran is focusing on ending the "war on all fronts," including Lebanon, and may enter the next phase of nuclear issue negotiations in 30 or 60 days.