Tehran Finalizing Makeup of Nuclear Negotiating Team

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is finalizing the composition of its negotiating team for talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
He said the negotiations will be carried out by the political department of the Foreign Ministry, but any possible agreement will be sealed at ministerial level. 
“The foreign ministry will be performing its negotiating duty within the [policy] framework [set by] top levels of power,” he said on state television on Saturday, according ISNA. 
Talks started in April in Vienna, Austria, to revive the deal which has been unravelling since the United States pulled out unilaterally and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Iranian leaders to row back on JCPOA commitments. 
The negotiations have been halted since June, after a new government came to power in Iran. 
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is still reviewing the record of past rounds of negotiations conducted under the previous Iranian administration. 
“We will return to the talks soon, but the negotiations must have an achievement for us,” he said.
He stressed that all JCPOA interests must be realized for Iran with clear indications.   
“The Iranian nation must benefit from the JCPOA,” he said, adding that narrowing down those interests is against the negotiating sides’ claims of being serious in restoring the agreement.  
While refusing to remove its sanctions unconditionally, the US has been calling on Iran to return to the talks immediately. 
Tehran has instead urged Americans to take measures before the restart of negotiations to send a positive signal, according to the foreign minister.  
“The people must see the effects of those measures on the ground,” he said. “If Americans have a real intention, they must release parts of Iran’s frozen assets.”

Full Implementation 

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, once again called for the full implementation of JCPOA in a recent interview with Arab News. 
“As coordinator of the [JCPOA], I have always been clear: We must go back to full implementation of the deal, which means a return of the US into the agreement with the lifting of related US sanctions and Iran’s full compliance with its nuclear commitments,” he said. 
Referring to his meeting with Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said his message was clear, “Diplomacy is the solution; let’s go back to Vienna without delay.”
Besides Borrell, the Iranian top diplomat also discussed the nuclear talks with the foreign ministers of the deal’s member states and the UN secretary-general in New York.
“I told them, instead of putting pressure on us, tell the US to return to its JCPOA commitments,” he said, citing the European parties’ failure to take an effective step to uphold Iran’s rights. 
“We won’t come to the negotiating table to drink coffee with you. You must show a real will.” 
He also said the new administration in the US cannot criticize its predecessor while acting in the same way.