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New Nuclear Meet on Agenda

New Nuclear Meet on Agenda
New Nuclear Meet on Agenda

Parties engaged in talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal are set to arrange a meeting in person to break the over one-month pause in the negotiations, an Iranian top diplomat said.
“It has not been decided where and at what level the meeting will be held, but this issue is on the agenda,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a regular press conference on Monday, ISNA reported. 
Negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna aim to restore the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
The deal has been out of condition since the United States pulled out and reimposed sweeping sanctions that prompted Iran to react by scaling down its commitments. 
Despite good progress over a year of indirect discussions, the Vienna talks have reached an impasse and have been paused for more than one month over a few remaining differences. 
Khatibzadeh said dialogue has not been stopped and top negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani is in regular contact with the European Union coordinator of the talks, Enrique Mora, who mediates between the two sides.  
The EU foreign policy chief, who acts as the coordinator of the JCPOA, said last week in a phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that the prolongation of the break is unconstructive and negotiations must resume. 
“Mr. Borrell and Mr. Amir-Abdollahian shared the idea that the prolongation of the pause is not beneficial for the talks and negotiations must be renewed as soon as possible with a meeting in person,” Khatibzadeh said. 

 

 

In No Side’s Interest  

He said the suspension would not have lasted this long if the US had provided appropriate responses to the outstanding issues. 
“Vienna is now awaiting US answers and we see the protraction of the talks in the interest of neither side,” he said. 
It is believed that Iran’s demand for the removal of its Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from the list of terrorist organizations has been the sticking point in the negotiations.
The US refuses to do so, saying it is outside the purview of the JCPOA, while Iran maintains the terror designation is part of the US maximum pressure campaign that former US president Donald Trump initiated against Tehran after his exit from the deal. 
Khatibzadeh said diminishing what has remained between Iran and the US down to one single issue is the desire of the US and Israel.  
“For us, these issues can neither be diminished nor simplified,” he said.
He added that the foundations of the so-called maximum pressure campaign, which the former US president, imposed on Iran, must be revoked and the cycle of Iran’s economic benefit from the JCPOA must be ensured completely.
Since the first day of Vienna talks, Iran demanded the lifting of all sanctions and restrictions “reimposed, relabeled or introduced” as part of the pressure campaign after the US exit from the JCPOA. 
A US State Department spokesman, however, said last week that if Iran wants sanctions-lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, it needs to address US concerns that go beyond the deal. 
Khatibzadeh censured the US administration’s approach, saying American domestic laws and policies and its upcoming elections cannot determine the outcome of the Vienna talks. 
“They disregard international law and try to attach issues to their domestic concerns.”   

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