Gov’t Set to Uphold Nation’s Rights in Any Negotiations

President Ebrahim Raisi said his administration will not give up on the rights of the Iranian nation in any negotiations, making a veiled reference to talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal. 
“We will not tie the lives of people to any external factor and will seriously work to address the country and people’s problems,” he said on Sunday, on occasion of World Mosque Day, President.ir reported. 
Iran has been engaged in negotiations with the five world powers and the United States since April 2021 in Vienna, Austria, to restore a landmark deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The agreement offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear activity, but has been unravelling since the United States pulled out and reimposed sanctions that prompted Tehran to row back on its commitments.
The Raisi administration says it will continue efforts to lift sanctions through diplomacy with seriousness, but will also work simultaneously to neutralize them by improving domestic capabilities and boosting international relations, particularly with neighboring and regional countries. 
The Vienna talks faced a months-long stalemate before the European Union coordinator finally put forward a new initiative which was discussed in Vienna early this month. 
After further consultations in Tehran, the Iranian delegation submitted its answer late last Monday. 
The response was not a simple approval or rejection, but contained additional requests which mainly involved the country’s economic benefits from the JCPOA. 
Iran insists that sanctions must be removed completely and in a verifiable manner, and demands guarantees should a future US administration renege on the deal again. 
However, senior US officials have said in their latest remarks that the US cannot bind future administrations to the deal, nor promise compensation should a US president ever withdraw. 

Not a Precondition 

The US has been reviewing the EU draft and Iran’s answers for the past week and has been privately conveying feedback to the Europeans, but has not yet officially responded.
“As we do in the Biden administration, we’re doing our homework,” a senior US administration official said. “We’re consulting with our experts in the interagency. And when we have a response prepared, we’ll send it back.”
US officials have said, however, that a deal is closer than before because a major blocking stone, which was Iran’s demand for the removal of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from the US terrorists list, has been eliminated. 
A senior US administration official told CNN that Iran has dropped what they called “a red line demand” which Biden has consistently rejected. 
Tehran denies that the delisting was a red-line demand. 
“I’ve often said over the past few months that removing the Guards from the US Foreign Terrorist Organization list was never a precondition or key demand,” Mohammad Marandi, a media adviser to Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, said on Twitter. 
He added that, however, that the US is free to claim that as part of its media campaign. 
“But if the US needs to say this to sell the deal, that’s their business.”
Iran has also designated the US Central Command as a terrorist organization and will simply keep it on the list in reciprocation, according to Marandi.