No Direct Iran-US Talks in Vienna: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed reports about direct contacts between Iran and the US in the course of Vienna talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Asked about the comments from US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan about Washington’s message for Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a press conference on Monday, “We have had no direct talks with the US in the Vienna negotiations.”
The spokesman explained that a series of written or spoken messages have been received through Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service for Political Affairs Enrique Mora.
Khatibzadeh noted that those message have only revolved around the subjects being negotiated in Vienna and have been instantly responded.
“Contrary to what the US announced in the media and public space, it has not presented any tangible proposal or text to the P4+1 so far,” he added.
The Iranian diplomat reminded the US that repetition of the previous policies would not help the negotiations, because Iran’s decisions are by no means affected by deadlines or media pressures.
Iran and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA -- Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China -- resumed talks in Vienna on November 29 after a five-month hiatus, marking the first round of negotiations under President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration and the seventh overall.
During the seventh round of the Vienna talks, Iran presented two draft texts which address, separately, the removal of US sanctions and Iran’s return to its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA. Tehran also said it was preparing a third draft text on the verification of the sanctions removal.
Iran and the P4+1 group of countries resumed the talks in the Austrian capital on December 9 after being paused on December 3, when the participants returned to their capitals for additional consultations on the two draft proposals that Tehran had put forward.
