TEHRAN,  (Xinhua) -- The Iranian foreign ministry said on Monday that the United States should prove its "reliability" by returning to the Iranian nuclear deal and complying with international norms.

  "The country, which unilaterally withdrew from the agreement signed in 2015, has hindered the achievement of an agreement based on joint interests ... has imposed illegal, unilateral and irrational sanctions (on Iran), and has no right to be a claimant and take a creditor's pose," Nassar Kanaani, the ministry's spokesman, told reporters during his weekly press conference.

  "The U.S. government needs to take a constructive approach to reaching an agreement," he noted.

  In its recent response to the EU's proposal on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has not raised any new issues or "any serious demands" that would hinder the achievement of a possible agreement, Kanaani said, calling the Western parties' pressures following Iran's response as "psychological warfare."

  Iran signed the JCPOA with world major powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for removing sanctions on the country. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.

  The talks on the JCPOA's revival began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington. The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in the Austrian capital in early August after a five-month hiatus.

  On Aug. 8, the EU put forward its final text of the draft decision on reviving the JCPOA. Iran and the United States later indirectly exchanged views on the EU proposal.

  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Iran's latest response has pushed the negotiations a step back.