Iran Serious About Reaching Good Deal on JCPOA Revival

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is serious and prepared to reach a quick and good agreement on the restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal, but is at the same time distrustful of the United States’ behavior. 
“The US contradictory behavior is one of the main obstacles in the negotiations,” he said in a phone conversation with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis on Tuesday, ISNA reported. 
He added that Washington expresses willingness to rejoin the agreement on the one hand, but has imposed sanctions in two phases on Iranian individuals and entities over the past few weeks on the other.
“Iran judges the US based on its behavior,” he said. 
Iran has been engaged in indirect negotiations with the US in Vienna, Austria, that aim to bring both countries back into compliance with the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.  
Washington exited the deal unilaterally in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions that prompted Iranian leaders to take reciprocal steps away from their commitments. 
The Vienna talks were halted in June after presidential elections in Iran and are set to restart on Nov. 29 with a new delegation from Iran’s more conservative government. 

Sole Purpose 

Tehran demands an effective and verifiable removal of all sanctions before it reverses its nuclear steps, maintaining that the lifting of the bans is its sole purpose of engaging in the negotiations. 
Officials in White House, however, call for a “mutual return” to compliance, refusing to take the initial step in fulfilling the obligations that they simply dropped while Iran was fully complying.  
“We continue to believe that a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best and most effective means by which to reapply those permanent and verifiable restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program,” US State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday. 
He said diplomacy, in the form of testing whether a mutual return can be achieved, remains the preferred course for Washington, but added that this is not a process that can go on indefinitely. 
“If the Iranians, through their actions or through their inactions, demonstrate or suggest that they lack that good faith and clarity of purpose, we’ll have to turn to other means,” he said, without clarifying on those other options.
Asked whether the US administration is ready to take any confidence-building measures, Price made clear that “we are not prepared to take unilateral steps solely for the benefit of greasing the wheel.”
He said the US hope continues to be that the new government in Iran comes to Vienna next week in good faith and with seriousness of purpose to build on the good progress that had been achieved in the previous rounds.

Constructive Cooperation 

Also on Tuesday, Amir-Abdollahian met Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi, who was in Tehran for discussions over outstanding issues. 
He stressed the Islamic Republic’s serious will to maintain constructive cooperation with the agency within the framework of its Safeguards Agreement, and hoped this visit would strengthen mutual trust and bilateral collaborations between Tehran and the IAEA.
The foreign minister also highlighted the importance of the agency’s “technical, professional and impartial” work, as well as the need for the global watchdog’s refusal to give in to political pressure from third parties.    
Grossi said his trip indicates the agency’s determination to engage in dialogue to reach a common understanding and resolve issues with Iran. 
He also expressed the IAEA’s readiness to continue discussions to address the remaining differences in the coming months in close cooperation with Tehran.