Iran’s Parliament Urges Govt. to Obtain Guarantees before Committing to Any Agreement in Vienna Talks


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Parliament laid out six conditions for an agreement and called on the incumbent administration not back down from its red lines and national interests in the course of negotiations in Vienna on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The Iranian parliamentarians in a statement urged the current administration not to back down from its red lines or national interests during negotiations in Vienna, Austria, between representatives of Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The statement, which was signed by 250 out of 290 legislators, stressed that the US and the European parties, namely Britain, France and Germany, should ensure that they would not withdraw from a restored agreement, as they have so far failed to honor any of their commitments over the past eight years and have employed any means possible to harm the interests of the Iranian nation.

“Accordingly, we must learn from the past and set the Iranian nation’s interest as a red line, and do not commit ourselves to any agreement unless necessary guarantees have been received,” the lawmakers said.

They also stressed that Washington and its European allies must provide guarantees that they will not withdraw from the Iran deal or use the so-called snapback mechanism to reimpose sanctions on Iran.

The statement further said that the US and European countries must also remove all sanctions against Iran, including ISA and CATSA, that have been imposed on the country under numerous pretexts, including nuclear activity, missile development, and human rights violations.

The parliamentarians pointed out that Tehran, under Article 7 of the Iranian Parliament’s Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, would reverse the reduction of its nuclear compliance once the Western side lifts the sanctions, especially on oil and banking sectors, and allows unimpeded flow of exports cash.

“The United States and other unfaithful parties to the JCPOA must firstly live up to their commitment of sanctions removal, and Iran must go ahead and fulfill its commitments after the former’s actions have been verified,” the parliamentarians highlighted.

The lawmakers stated that Tehran, under Article 7 of the Iranian Parliament's Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, would reverse the reduction of its nuclear compliance once the Western side lifts sanctions, especially on oil and banking sectors,  and allow unimpeded flow of exports cash.

The United States left the JCPOA in 2018 and began to implement what it called the “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, depriving the country of the economic benefits of the agreement, including the removal of sanctions, for which Iran had agreed to certain caps on its nuclear activities.

In the meantime, the other parties to the deal, in particular France, Britain and Germany, only paid lip service to safeguarding Iran’s economic dividends as promised under the JCPOA, prompting Iran – after an entire year of “strategic patience” – to reduce its nuclear obligations in a legal move under the deal.

The Vienna talks began last April on the assumption that the US, under the Joe Biden administration, is willing to repeal the so-called maximum pressure policy pursued by former president Donald Trump.

Tehran says it will not settle for anything less than the removal of all US sanctions in a verifiable manner. It also wants guarantees that Washington would not abandon the agreement again.