Talks on Sanctions Removal Based on JCPOA

Negotiations for the removal of sanctions are carried out on the basis of the very 2015 nuclear deal and there is no new framework in this regard, a senior Iranian diplomat said. 
“We don’t confirm talks for an interim agreement or for new arrangements to replace the JCPOA,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said at a regular press briefing on Monday, ISNA reported. 
He used the acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the landmark deal that was signed in 2015 between Iran and the six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief. 
The JCPOA unraveled when the United States withdrew in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions that prompted Tehran to row back on its commitments. 
Indirect negotiations began in early 2021 in Vienna, Austria, to work out how both sides could resume compliance, but have been stalled over final differences. 
Recent media reports have claimed that there have been direct talks between Iranian and US officials on a temporary agreement. 
Kanaani did not dismiss contacts between the two sides, but denied any intention to reach an interim deal to replace the JCPOA, as well as holding direct negotiations.
He said the exchange of messages has been through intermediaries, including Oman, stressing that the contacts were not in secret.
Earlier, Mohammad Marandi, advisor to Iran’s negotiating team, had rejected reports of confidential and direct talks between Tehran and Washington. 
“Talks between Iran and the US are conducted in an indirect way and via three intermediaries, including Oman and the United Nations,” he had said in an interview with Al-Arabia. 
In these negotiations, the Iranian and US officials do not hold bilateral meetings in one room, according to Marandi.
He had also noted that the negotiations have been over the exchange of prisoners and release of Iranian assets frozen as a result of US sanctions. 
The reports cited sources as saying that direct talks have taken place between America’s Iran envoy, Robert Malley, and Iranian ambassador to the UN, Saeed Iravani, on US soil over a temporary agreement.  
Under the terms of the claimed deal, Iran would commit to ceasing its 60% uranium enrichment activities and would continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency as required by the JCPOA. 
In exchange, the sources said, Tehran would be allowed to export up to a million barrels of oil per day and gain access to its income and other frozen funds abroad to be exclusively used to purchase a range of essential items, including food and medication.
The White House later dismissed the report as “false and misleading,” and Iran’s UN mission confirmed the same. 
The European Union, as coordinator of the JCPOA and talks on its revival, also said there has been no new development regarding the nuclear deal. 

Drone Delivery Claims

Kanaani was later asked about France’s accusations about Iran’s supply of drones to Russia for its war on Ukraine, which he roundly dismissed. 
“We reject any claim about the export of arms by Iran to Russia for use in the Ukraine war,” he said. 
He also highlighted that Iran’s defense cooperation with Russia precedes the Ukraine crisis and cannot be called into question. 
“It is the right of any country to cooperate with other states based on its interests, as well as international regulations,” he said. 
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron contended that he warned his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi about the consequences of delivering drones to Russia in a recent phone call. 
It said in a statement on Saturday that Macron urged Iran to “immediately cease” the alleged support it is giving Russia in the war against Ukraine.
Kanaani underlined that Iran is not one part of this war, unlike Europe which is involved in it by exporting heavy weapons to Ukraine. 
“Considering this, the European sides cannot act as claimant against Iran on the issue of Ukraine,” he said. 
Kiev and its western allies accuse Iran of providing drones to Russia, in violation of a 2015 UN Security Council resolution enshrining the Iran nuclear deal.
Iran has refuted such claims from the first day, although it has admitted that a limited number of drones had been delivered to Moscow months before the onset of the conflict.