Commitment to Talks on JCPOA Revival Reaffirmed

Tehran is still committed to the course of negotiations on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal to reach a lasting agreement that ensures the Iranian nation’s interests, a senior diplomat said. 
“Based on respect and mutual interests, we are ready for interaction with the negotiating parties to conclude the talks,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said at a regular press briefing on Monday, ISNA reported.
He also stressed that Iran would firmly resist and duly respond to any effort by the western parties to impose new sanctions and pressure on the Islamic Republic, or any restriction against the government and nation of Iran, with the aim of winning more concessions.
Since April 2021, Iran has been engaged in negotiations to restore the faltering 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear activity.
The JCPOA has been unraveling since the United States pulled out four years ago and reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, which reacted by rowing back on its commitments.
Talks in the Austrian capital Vienna have been stalled over a few remaining issues. 
Tehran has submitted its amendments to an initiative proposed by the European Union coordinator and is now awaiting the US political decision to finalize a deal. 
Russia’s negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov said last week in an interview with Al Jazeera that the Vienna talks might resume in November. 
Kanaani refused to comment on the possible date for the resumption of negotiations, but stressed that the path of talks is still open and a deal is possible in short order if the other side has the required political will. 

Complete Guarantees 

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said recently that the US, Iran and European nations were very near a nuclear agreement. 
“We’re at a stage where there are just a couple of issues remaining on the table, but which are very significant and important.”
Iran has demanded guarantees for sustainable removal of sanctions and assurances that the US will not withdraw from the agreement again, as former president Donald Trump did in 2018.
“The American side has taken some steps toward giving us guarantees. We just need those guarantees to become a little more complete,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
Washington says it cannot give such assurance because the JCPOA is a political understanding rather than a legally binding treaty. 
US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley said negotiations would be pointless if Iran insists on obtaining such guarantees.
“We’ve told them since we started talking indirectly around March 2021... we can’t control what the next president does... That was the deal... So if that’s something that Iran insists upon, there’s no point in negotiating,” he said in an interview with NPR. 
He also accused Iran of raising new demands and obstructing the process each time the talks were near conclusion.
“There was a deal on the table ... and all the other participants were OK with it in March. Then again over the summer. Then again in August. And each time Iran has come up with some new requests, some new demands, most of the time either an unrealistic demand or one that was extraneous to the nuclear talks, something that had nothing to do with it,” he contended. 
Tehran argues that strong security is necessary given the US history of unfaithfulness. 
Iran has also demanded the closure of investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency into nuclear material allegedly found at undeclared sites. 
Iranian authorities insist that that the case is based on fabricated data and is meant to be used against the country in the event that an agreement is inked.