United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed hope that talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal will conclude with a desirable outcome after both Iran and the United States reviewed and responded to the latest initiative proposed by the European Union.
In a Thursday phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, he also described the course of negotiations as “positive” and appreciated Iran’s efforts and constructive positions, ISNA reported.
Amir-Abdollahian reiterated Iran’s serious will to reach a strong and lasting deal, saying the Islamic Republic has shown this determination in practice.
Negotiations in Vienna, Austria, aim to restore the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear activity.
The JCPOA has been unravelling since the US pulled out and reimposed sweeping sanctions which prompted Tehran to react by scaling down its commitments.
Vienna talks had been stalled for months before the EU coordinator put forward a new proposal early this month, to which Iran responded last week.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani announced on Wednesday that the US response to the proposal and Iran’s comments has been received.
“Iran will submit its views to the coordinator after completing in-depth review of the US answers,” he said.
The EU coordinator of the JCPOA, Josep Borrell, also said the US answer to Iran’s views on the initiative are “very reasonable”, but no side has disclosed any details.
Speaking to a group of Iranians residing in Tanzania on Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian said if reviews by expert teams confirm that Iran’s interests are ensured and its reservations and red lines are respected, the next step would be the gathering of foreign ministers in Vienna for the conclusion of a deal.
“So long as we have not made sure that our red lines are respected and the interests of the Iranian nation are upheld, we will be in no hurry [to conclude the talks],” he said.
Fabricated, Political Issue
Iran demands the removal of all sanctions in a verifiable manner as well as guarantees that no future US government would renege on the deal again.
It also wants the conclusion of investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency into uranium particles allegedly found in undeclared old sites.
“Settlement of fabricated and political safeguards issues is a fundamental necessity,” Amir-Abdollahian told Guterres.
Tehran says the evidence for nuclear activity in several locations in Iran has been made up by Israel who has also carried out sabotage missions in Iranian nuclear sites.
The IAEA Board of Governors also passed a resolution, drafted by the US, France, Germany and Britain in June, rebuking Iran for failure to give credible explanation about the nuclear material.
The foreign minister said Iran is very serious about the outstanding safeguards issues.
“We would never accept that while all parties return to the JCPOA, some political and baseless allegations by the IAEA remain open, and they repeat these claims, which arise from the Zionist regime’s destabilizing circle, any time they want,” he said in Tanzania.
US officials have said, however, that the JCPOA restoration cannot be linked to the safeguards issue.
“We’ve also been clear that we do not believe there should be any conditionality between reimplementation of the JCPOA and the investigations related to Iran’s legal obligations,” US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a press briefing on Thursday.
He said the only way to address these issues is for Iran to answer IAEA questions.
“Once the IAEA director general reports to the board of governors that the outstanding issues have been clarified and resolved, we expect them to come off the board’s agenda, but not before that,” he said.
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