Three-Day Halt to Vienna Talks; Iran’s Representative Deems Negotiations ‘Positive’
The eighth round of talks aimed at reviving the JCPOA, which was underway in Vienna, was suspended for three days at noon on Thursday, December 30, due to the arrival of year-end holidays.
Given the overlap of negotiations with the start of the new year, talks between Iran and the 4+1 group were halted until next Monday, with delegations returning to their respective countries.
Furthermore, before the suspension of talks, Ali Bagheri, Iran’s senior negotiator, held meetings and discussions with Enrique Mora, the deputy responsible for foreign policy of the European Union.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s negotiator in Vienna, also tweeted on Thursday that “informal consultations” within the framework of Vienna talks continue to be ongoing.
Mr. Ulyanov added that after a three-day break, the eighth round (not ninth) of Vienna talks will resume on December 31.
While participating countries in the JCPOA revival talks have described the state of negotiations as “urgent,” and the U.S. State Department has deemed it “premature” to speak of negotiation progress, the head of the Iranian delegation describes the negotiation process as “positive.”
Concurrent with the eighth round of JCPOA revival talks, Jamaran news agency reported that Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s representative in the JCPOA revival talks, assessed the negotiation process as positive after concluding sessions with counterparts, and without referring to details, stated that “negotiations are proceeding well.”
Jamaran news agency wrote that sanctions removal talks in Vienna “have gained more momentum and reports suggest a reduction in disagreements among participating countries in the talks.”
This comes as Ned Price, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, stated on Wednesday that some progress has been made in the past two rounds of talks, and we believe that at best, the progress achieved in the talks is “far slower” than Iran’s accelerated nuclear steps.
He further emphasized, “It is far too early to say whether Tehran has returned to the negotiating table in the current round to benefit from these advances or not.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, negotiators from three countries—Britain, France, and Germany—also issued a statement, describing the recent negotiation process as “urgent,” declaring that “we are approaching a point where Iran’s escalated nuclear program activities render the JCPOA completely meaningless.”
In their recent statement, these three countries called the 60 percent uranium enrichment “unprecedented” for a non-nuclear-armed country and emphasized that they do not intend to set an unrealistic deadline for ending talks, but it is likely these negotiations will conclude within “a few weeks rather than several months.”
Source: Radio Farda
