Safeguards, 3 Other Issues Still Outstanding in Vienna Talks: Source
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An informed source dismissed reports that the eventual outcome of the Vienna negotiations on the revival of the JCPOA hinges on the IAEA director general’s visit to Tehran, saying apart from the safeguards issues, at least three other outstanding subjects remain to be addressed.
In comments on Friday night, the well-informed source said that in addition to the safeguards issues, there are at least three other outstanding subjects in the Vienna talks.
The comments came amid the speculation fueled by the American and European officials and media that the resolved issues in the Vienna talks and the ultimate outcome of the JCPOA negotiations would depend upon the visit that the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is paying to Iran.
“The safeguards issue is among the very important subjects, as the (International Atomic Energy) Agency’s logical approach and the rational conduct of the P4+1 could play a significant role in the fruitfulness of the negotiations. However, that’s not the whole story and three other issues are also outstanding,” the source added.
The source went on to say that Iran has exhibited the maximum degree of flexibility in the negotiations, and now the ball is in the court of the P4+1 whose logical decision will help the talks bear fruit.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has arrived in Tehran to hold talks with Iranian officials on the continuation of technical cooperation between the Islamic Republic and the UN nuclear agency.
The visit comes as talks between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries aimed at reviving the 2015 deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), continue in Vienna.
Prior to his trip to Tehran, the IAEA chief tweeted that his visit takes place at “a critical time but a positive outcome for everyone is possible.”
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 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.
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.
