Iran: We Are Not in a Hurry to Conclude Vienna Negotiations

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Iran is not in a hurry to conclude Vienna negotiations but will not allow them to become drawn out. He added that the United States has accepted the implementation of a major part of what Iran considers necessary.

The spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday, the twentieth of Ordibehesht, that Vienna negotiations for reviving the JCPOA have entered the “drafting phase in the nuclear domain and sanctions relief” but since each day brings different details and outcomes, he cannot provide information about all of them.

According to ILNA news agency, Saeed Khatibzadeh said at this press conference: “The United States has accepted, within the framework of its commitments, a major part of what it needs to do and what we also consider necessary.”

The fourth round of JCPOA Joint Commission negotiations began on the seventeenth of Ordibehesht. Abbas Araghchi, head of Iran’s negotiating team in Vienna, said after the first day of negotiations in an interview with Islamic Republic state television that America has agreed to lift a large portion of sanctions but from Tehran’s perspective, this amount is insufficient.

In accordance with a resolution of the Iranian Parliament known as the “Strategic Action Law to Counter Sanctions and Protect the Nation’s Interests,” Iran suspended the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as part of its continued reduction of JCPOA commitments from the fifth of Esfand.

Days before this action, during Rafael Grossi’s, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s visit to Tehran, an agreement was signed whereby surveillance cameras and monitoring equipment continue to record activities at the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities for three months, but the recorded data will only be handed over to the Agency on the condition that an agreement is reached on lifting sanctions.

The Islamic Republic has threatened that if negotiations to lift sanctions do not conclude within the three-month deadline, it will delete the recorded information of its activities during this period.

Possibility of Extending Iran-IAEA Agreement

Rafael Grossi recently expressed hope in an interview with Bloomberg Television that this will not happen and announced his readiness to travel to Tehran again if Vienna talks do not yield results by that date to reach a new compromise.

Abbas Araghchi said on Friday on the sidelines of Vienna negotiations that Iran hopes significant progress will be achieved in these talks by the end of the three-month agreement with the Agency (May 22/1st of Khordad), but Tehran is prepared to consider extending this agreement if necessary.

Previously, some news sources reported, citing European diplomats, that JCPOA Joint Commission negotiators are trying to achieve results in reviving the JCPOA by the end of the three-month deadline of the Iran-IAEA agreement.

Nevertheless, a person close to U.S. State Department officials told Bloomberg that setting a goal to revive the JCPOA before May 22 is ambitious, and it is more likely that this matter will take until mid-June (25th of Khordad).

“We Are Not in a Hurry, But It Should Not Become Drawn Out”

Araghchi’s announcement of readiness to review extending the agreement with the Agency strengthens this possibility. Khatibzadeh also said today in this regard that Iran is not in a hurry to conclude negotiations while not allowing them to become drawn out.

The leader of the Islamic Republic said in late Farvardin at a virtual ceremony that Iran’s policy regarding the JCPOA and sanctions is clear and officials’ view has been that negotiations should take place to implement these policies.

Ali Khamenei said, according to Farsi news agency: “We have no discussion in this regard, but it must be ensured that negotiations are not drawn out and are not conducted in a way that parties prolong them, because this is harmful to the country.”

All parties involved in Vienna negotiations believe that talks on reviving the JCPOA, which for the first time involve indirect U.S. participation, have entered a sensitive phase.

Heiko Maas, Germany’s Foreign Minister, said on Monday on the eve of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers to journalists that Vienna negotiations are difficult and challenging, but all parties are continuing talks in a constructive atmosphere.

In a video message on his Twitter page, he said that along with his French counterpart and Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy coordinator, he is briefing EU foreign ministers on the latest developments in Vienna negotiations.

Warning About Running Out of Time

Germany’s foreign minister says time is running out and we want a complete revival of the nuclear agreement because this is the only necessary tool to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons and this must be prevented by any means.

According to Reuters news agency, Borrell on Monday emphasized that negotiations between Iran’s representatives and world powers have entered a decisive phase and coming weeks will be fateful.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief says he is optimistic about a positive outcome of the negotiations, but only a few weeks of opportunity remain, time is limited, and there is still much work to be done.

According to this report, Borrell expressed hope that Vienna negotiations will enter a phase of “uninterrupted talks” until reaching a conclusion within the remaining opportunity.

Saeed Khatibzadeh says if negotiations do not conclude by the end of the three-month agreement with the Agency and if “both sides are on the right path,” one of the options is Tehran’s agreement with an extension of the agreement with the Agency.

He added: “Of course, it is natural that the negotiating team is not decision-making and all decisions are made in Tehran.”

Ali Khamenei stated this clearly on the twelfth of Ordibehesht in a speech on the occasion of Workers’ Day and Teachers’ Day, saying that the Foreign Ministry is the executor and foreign policy is determined by “senior officials and beyond the Foreign Ministry.”

Source: DW