Good Result in Vienna Talks at Hand if US Makes Up Mind: Iranian FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An eventual agreement in the Vienna talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal will be attainable if the US makes a decision and honors its commitments, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said.
In a post on his Twitter account on Friday, the top Iranian diplomat pointed to the visit that European Union deputy foreign policy chief Enrique Mora paid to Tehran on May 12.
“Following my contacts with Josep Borrell, Mr. Mora's visit (to Iran) and his talks with (top Iranian negotiator) Mr. Bagheri were another opportunity to focus on initiatives to resolve the remaining issues,” Amirabdollahian said.
“A good and reliable outcome is within reach if US makes its decision and adheres to its commitments,” he underlined.
In comments at a press conference on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh described Mora’s visit to Iran as a sign that the talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) were on the right track.
“What has happened in Vienna is caused by the lack of Washington’s decision. The United States is not supposed to give Iran a present, but it must rather restore the Iranian nation’s rights,” he stated.
The spokesman has also noted that the text of an eventual deal between Iran and the P4+1 has already been finalized, adding, “I would not say that there is a deadlock. The US’ decision could easily make an agreement in Vienna possible.”
Several rounds of negotiations have been held in the Austrian capital since April 2021 to bring the US back into the Iran deal. The Vienna talks, however, exclude American diplomats due to their country’s withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018.
Recent weeks have brought the talks to a new impasse, as the US insists on its refusal to remove Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) from its foreign terrorist organization list.
Iran maintains that the IRGC’s designation in 2019 was part of former president Donald Trump administration’s so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran, and therefore, it has to be reversed unconditionally.
The Joe Biden administration disagrees, even though it has admitted on countless occasions that Trump’s maximum pressure policy has been a disastrous failure. It has retained the IRGC’s designation as leverage in the talks.