US President-elect Joe Biden will urge Iran to agree on new demands if it wants the United States to lift sanctions and return to a nuclear deal, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Biden would also seek to extend the period of “restrictions on Iran’s production of fissile material that could be used to make a (nuclear) bomb” in a new round of negotiations, the newspaper said.

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Notably, President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran as part of a “maximum pressure” move against the US’s arch enemy. 

The report by NYT also said that the Islamic republic would have to address its “malign” regional activities through proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen in the talks that would have to include its Arab neighbours like Saudi Arabia.

In the interview published by NYT, Biden said that “it’s going to be hard, but yeah.”

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“The best way to achieve getting some stability in the region” was to deal “with the nuclear program”, he added.

The 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

In response to Trump’s withdrawal, Iran has retaliated by rolling back its commitments to the accord.

Iran’s government has offered a cautious welcome to Biden’s victory, but conservatives have accused it of yielding to what they say is an “illusion” of a change by the “Great Satan” of America.