No Precondition Set for US in JCPOA Talks: Iranian Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran has never set any precondition for Washington in the course of talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, since the US is basically not even a member of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Asked about the resumption of negotiations on salvaging the JCPOA, Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that Iran has decided to proceed with the negotiations after assessing the challenges that have arisen in the six previous rounds of talks in Vienna.
“We have never set a precondition for the US, because the US is not a party to the JCPOA. What we have mentioned relates to the US’ return to the JCPOA and the main goal is to make sure that all sanctions (on Iran) will be lifted, so that Washington would not make a mockery of the world,” the spokesman said at a press conference.
He was referring to media speculations about the comments made on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who had called on the US administration to prove its goodwill be releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
Khatibzadeh lashed out at the administration of US President Joe Biden for following the policies of its predecessor, saying the US must show practically that it wants to review its policies.
The spokesman also noted that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri will travel to Brussels to hold talks with Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service for Political Affairs Enrique Mora about the challenges and obstacles that have remained unsolved after six rounds of JCPOA talks in Vienna.
Khatibzadeh highlighted Iran’s success in dampening the shocks created by the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal, saying not only did Iran’s economic system absorb that shock, but also the country’s gross domestic product growth rate will be positive this year.
A new round of talks to revive the JCPOA began in Vienna in April between Iran and the remaining members of the nuclear deal, namely the UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany.
There was a hiatus in the nuclear talks after the new Iranian administration took office in August.
Last week, Amirabdollahian said the Iranian administration would finalize decisions on the resumption of the Vienna talks about the JCPOA in the near future.
The US left the JCPOA in 2018 and restored the economic sanctions that the accord had lifted. Tehran retaliated with remedial nuclear measures that it is entitled to take under the JCPOA’s Paragraph 36.
The current negotiations examine the potential of revitalization of the nuclear deal and the US’ likely return to it.