Lack of US Decision on Lifting Sanctions Hindering Deal in Vienna: Iran’s FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The foreign minister of Iran described the US’ refusal to remove the sanctions whose termination will serve the economic benefits of the Iranian people as the current obstacle in the way of eventual results in the Vienna talks on the revival of the JCPOA.
In a meeting in Tehran on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and European Union deputy foreign policy chief Enrique Mora held talks about the latest developments in the course of Vienna talks for reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and lifting the sanctions on Iran.
Praising the efforts made by EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell and by Mora, Amirabdollahian reiterated that Iran has taken part in the Vienna talks seriously and has put forward the necessary initiatives for the achievement of an agreement.
The other parties, particularly the US government, must adopt a realistic approach in order to settle the outstanding issues, the top Iranian diplomat underlined.
“The lack of US’ political decision about lifting the sanctions which are tied to the economic benefits of the Iranian people is the current obstacle to the achievement of ultimate results. For us, enjoying the full economic benefits (of the JCPOA) and the effective removal of sanctions are the basic priorities,” Amirabdollahian stated.
For his part, Mora gave a report of the latest progress in the Vienna talks and offered his evaluation of the road ahead.
The EU deputy foreign policy chief has visited Tehran for talks with Iran’s lead negotiator Ali Baqeri about the last-ditch efforts to conclude an agreement in the Vienna talks.
Earlier this month, the Vienna talks, meant to resurrect the JCPOA, were paused for an undetermined period of time despite reports suggesting that they were in the “final stages.”
The United States, which is blamed for the current stalemate, is reluctant to take confidence-building measures due to its erroneous bias, procrastination in decision-making and excessive demands, Press TV reported.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said the US needs to remove all illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic in a verifiable manner and offer guarantees that a new US administration will not breach the JCPOA again before it can rejoin the deal.
Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally left the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had lifted. He also placed additional sanctions on Iran under other pretexts not related to the nuclear case as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.