US’ Reluctance to Abandon Sanctions Main Obstacle to Vienna Talks’ Success: Iranian Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official denounced the US’ addiction to the policy of sanctions as the biggest barrier to progress in the Vienna talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In comments at a briefing about the latest developments in the Vienna negotiations on the 2015 nuclear deal, the Iranian official said on Sunday, “It has now become clear that the US’ reluctance to fully abandon the sanctions (against Iran) is the major challenge to progress in the talks.”
“We believe that whenever the US government ditches the maximum pressure campaign and the European parties show the necessary political will in the negotiations, the road to the immediate achievement of a deal will be opened,” the official added.
On the two documents that Iran has proposed in the most recent round of Vienna talks about the removal of sanctions and its nuclear commitments, the official said Tehran expects the other parties to attend the next round of negotiations, due to begin late next week, with “accurate and logical written responses” and possibly with “new practical ideas”.
“The other side needs to both adopt an interactive approach and have the necessary flexibility,” the Iranian diplomat added.
Envoys from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries held the seventh round of the talks in the Austrian capital earlier this week to discuss ways for the removal of US sanctions and reviving the JCPOA.
Former US president Donald Trump left the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had lifted. He also placed additional sanctions on Iran under other pretexts not related to the nuclear case as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.