Iran’s Foreign Minister: Final Agreement Possible Within Hours

Iran’s Foreign Minister said on Sunday, the first day of Esfand, in an interview that reaching a final agreement in Vienna is contingent on a “realistic” and “flexible” approach from the United States and Europe.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who traveled to Vienna after attending the Munich Security Conference, claimed in an interview with Euronews that Tehran has so far demonstrated high initiative and considerable flexibility at the negotiating table.

Stating that reaching a final agreement within less than a few hours is possible, he made the timing of the agreement dependent on the flexibility and initiative of the Western side.

Iran’s Foreign Minister emphasized that the Islamic Republic has conveyed its message to American officials through intermediaries, and the three European parties to the JCPOA are also directly informed of Tehran’s expectations.

In recent days, European officials, including Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, and Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Foreign Minister, emphasizing that there are only a few days left to reach an agreement, have said that now it is time for Tehran to make a decision.

Despite repeated warnings from Western officials about the end of time needed to reach an agreement, Iranian government officials continue to hold the Western parties responsible for the current situation.

The eighth round of talks aimed at reviving the JCPOA continues in Vienna with the participation of representatives from Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany, the European Union, and the United States. American representatives are indirectly present in these negotiations, and Iranian officials say they are not willing to negotiate directly with them.

Amir-Abdollahian had said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that direct negotiations with the United States require the lifting of sanctions and the release of Iran’s financial resources.

Reuters news agency reported on February 18 in an exclusive report, quoting “Western diplomats,” that in a 20-page draft for reviving the JCPOA prepared in Vienna, bilateral measures are envisioned for a step-by-step return of Iran and the United States to implementing all their commitments, but Iran’s exemption from oil sanctions is not included in the first steps.

The publication of this draft angered Iranian officials to the extent that Iran’s Foreign Minister asked the Western countries involved in negotiations with representatives of the Islamic Republic to, as he put it, “not make a miscalculation” and “not drag negotiations into the media space.”

The Political Deputy of the Leader’s Representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also warned on Sunday, referring to published reports about an agreement in Vienna, that measures that “cast suspicion on the retreat of the Islamic Republic’s negotiating team” must be “prevented.”

250 members of parliament also issued a statement asking the Ibrahim Raisi administration not to accept a revival agreement without obtaining guarantees from the United States not to withdraw again from the JCPOA and a commitment from JCPOA members not to use the “snapback mechanism.”

Source: Radio Farda