Iran Pioneer in Offering Proposals at Vienna Talks

Iran is pioneering in putting forward new ideas and proposals in negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal in the Austrian capital Vienna, said a source on the Iran negotiating team. 
The source also said the United States finally needs to make a decision and “end dragging its feet”, IRNA reported. 
Tehran and Washington started indirect negotiations in Vienna in April to work out how they can resume compliance with the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
The JCPOA went out of shape when the US pulled out unilaterally in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Iranian leaders to roll back on their nuclear commitments. 
Negotiations in Vienna are in their eighth round, but differences still remain on key issues. 
The latest round took a break last week and negotiators returned to their capitals for consultations. Diplomats said the process had reached a point where important political decisions needed to be taken. 
The informed source stressed that Iran is not the party that is “slow walking in the talks”. 
Iran says it will reverse its steps once it verifies that the US sanctions are effectively removed. It also demands guarantees that a future US government would not violate the deal again.  
The other sides have been informed of this position through the proposals Iran has offered, according to Iranian negotiators.
“Putting proposals on the table is quite a normal practice in any negotiation, and negotiation in its essence is a business of exchanging proposals, counter-proposals, and offers,” the source said. 
The source added that the Iranian delegation carefully considers any new proposal, if there is any. 
Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani told Press TV back in December that the Iranian side had not received any constructive initiative or proposal from the opposite side.
IRNA quoted the source as saying that representatives from China and Russia along with the European Union have complained about “the US bewilderment and incapability to take political decisions on the result of the talks.”
Western media claimed last week that the US had submitted its proposal for a return to compliance with the JCPOA to the other negotiating parties who mediate between Tehran and Washington.  
China’s representative Wang Qun said afterwards that he hoped Iran would “formally come up with its written feedbacks on the proposed package for discussion by all parties,” Chinese media outlet CGTN reported.
The US says it is ready to lift JCPOA-related sanctions, but will maintain those which have been imposed on non-nuclear grounds. 
It also says it is impossible to bind a future president not to tear up the deal again. 

Concluding Stage

In his latest remarks, the Chinese top negotiator said the talks are in the concluding stages.
Wang said on Saturday the Iranian negotiating team has returned to the talks with their final package.
Nevertheless, about the possibility of a Joint Commission in the coming days, Wang said that there is no arrangement for such a meeting but “meetings of different formats; bilateral, trilateral…” are being held.
On Saturday, the Chinese envoy met Baqeri Kani and discussed offers presented by the Iranian delegation to solve the outstanding issues.
Earlier in the day, the Iranian senior diplomat held detailed talks with Russia’s negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov on possible ways to salvage the landmark deal.
The Russian diplomat also met with the US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley at what he called “the final stage of the #ViennaTalks on #JCPOA”, before another meeting with the heads of the British, French and German delegations to exchange views on the way ahead. 
The Iranian chief negotiator also on Saturday held a meeting with Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator of the Vienna talks.