Iran Calls on West to Adopt A Realistic Approach in Vienna Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told his British counterpart that the West needs to make a realistic political decision to guarantee Iran’s interests in order for a final agreement to be reached in the Vienna talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Accelerating the conclusion of an agreement (in Vienna) requires serious will on the part of the West to make a courageous and realistic political decision to ensure Iran’s interests, especially the objective removal of sanctions, in order to reach a durable agreement,” Amirabdollahian said in a phone call with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Thursday.
He expressed hope that the European parties to the landmark 2015 Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would pursue a realistic approach and play a constructive and appropriate role to help reach an agreement.
Referring to his meetings with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, on the sidelines of the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC) last week, the Iranian foreign minister emphasized that the sides managed to make good progress to settle the outstanding issues in the Vienna talks.
In turn, the British foreign secretary, whose country is a party to the Vienna negotiations, said Iran and the P4+1 group of countries have so far made positive achievements, but they should complete the process of negotiations and conclude a deal agreed by all the sides as soon as possible.
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 between Iran and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA – Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- 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 won’t 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.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday that any agreement with the P4+1 group of countries in Vienna for the revival of the JCPOA requires the removal of all anti-Iran sanctions, protection of the Iranian nation's interests, valid guarantees, and closure of political cases.
During the phone conversation, Amirabdollahian and Truss said the repayment of Britain’s overdue debts to Iran is among the main issues between Tehran and London, stressing the importance of finding an appropriate way to solve it as soon as possible.
The British foreign secretary expressed hope that the two countries would settle consular issues related to prisoners and the payment of London’s debt to Tehran in the near future through continued cooperation.
She said growing relations between the two countries would serve common interests.
Britain owes as much as £400m to Iran arising from the non-delivery of Chieftain tanks ordered by Iran's former monarchical regime. An international arbitration in 2008 ruled the UK owed the debt.
