West to Blame If Vienna Talks on JCPOA Revival Fail, Iran’s FM Says

“We are very optimistic about the results of the Vienna talks… and that’s because the administration of the new president of Iran, Dr. Ebrahim Raisi, has the serious will to achieve a good deal with the other side,” Amirabdollahian said in an interview with CNN on the sidelines of the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany on Saturday.

“Now, we are at a very sensitive time and the other side should be realistic; and if the talks fail, we believe that it is the Americans and the other side that are responsible for it,” he added. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown its seriousness and has shown that it really wants the deal to be done and we have been trying to reach the deal.”

Iran and the five remaining parties to the 2015 Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are engaged in the eighth round of negotiations in the Austrian capital to bring the US back into the deal by removing its sanctions, which are in grave violation of the agreement.

Back in 2018, then-US president Donald Trump left the deal and unleashed a "maximum pressure" campaign in the hope of pressing Iran into signing a “better deal.” However, his move backfired as it prompted the Islamic Republic to reduce its nuclear obligations and advance its nuclear program to a level far beyond the pre-JCPOA era.

The Islamic Republic has occasionally said it has no trust in the United States and Europe since the former viciously left the Iran deal to pursue a confrontational policy against the Islamic Republic and the latter went along with it.

Raisi has said any possible agreement through the Vienna format must include the removal of all sanctions and the provision of credible guarantees that Iran will be able to thoroughly enjoy the dividends of the 2015 deal.

Amirabdollahian also met European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, during which the Iranian foreign minister stressed the need for the West to take necessary political decisions so that a deal could be reached in the shortest possible time.

At the meeting, the top Iranian diplomat praised the role of Borrell and his deputy, Enrique Mora, as coordinators of the talks in the Austrian capital and underscored Iran's will for a good agreement.

Stressing that Tehran has so far presented all initiatives and proposals for a good deal, Amirabdollahian said, “Now is the time for the United States and the three European countries to show the real will to reach an agreement in the shortest possible time by making the necessary political decisions.”

“If it were not for Iran's initiatives, we would not be so close to an agreement,” he noted. “But the other side should know that Tehran will not ignore its red lines."

While reviewing various parts of the Vienna talks with respect to lifting of sanctions, nuclear commitments, verification and obtaining guarantees, Borrell, for his part, informed Amirabdollahian of his comments as the coordinator of the negotiations, and the two sides agreed to continue their consultations.

Amirabdollahian also fielded questions raised at an interview with Roula Khalaf, a Guardian newspaper journalist, on the possibility of direct talks between the Iranian and American delegation at the Austrian capital.

“In recent weeks, the Americans have been asking through various intermediaries to negotiate directly with us. In response to the mediators, we stated that the prospects for such negotiations were not very clear to us, and if we were not to achieve anything, there was no need for direct talks. If the American side takes a major initiative, including the lifting of some sanctions, then it can be said that the US intentions are real,” the top Iranian diplomat said.

“We hear from the Americans that Mr. Biden has good faith,” Amirabdollahian told Khalaf, stressing that he had stated in meetings on the sidelined of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York in September that if the US president had good faith, then he would release $10 billion of our frozen assets in foreign banks.

“We do not ask Mr. Biden for a loan or funds, but we want him to release our assets in good faith,” he said, according to Press TV.

AmiraAbdollahian underlined that the American side speaks of good faith only in words and that is not enough for direct talks. “They must show their goodwill in a practical way and on the ground; they can lift some of the sanctions or release some of our frozen assets in foreign banks."

The top diplomat reiterated that imposing sanctions on Iran while the diplomatic process is still underway could not be further from a demonstration of goodwill.

“At the same time with the new round of talks, even some new sanctions have been imposed on Iranian legal and natural persons by the Biden administration,” he said. “This means that his government is following in Trump's footsteps, so public opinion believes that they are practically the same.”