US says it will seek alternative solution if Russia does not withdraw its demand on JCPOA

A senior US administration official told the Wall Street Journal that the United States will not negotiate with Russia over its recent request, and if Russia insists on its demand and does not withdraw the request by next week, the US will seek alternative solutions, including an interim agreement with Tehran.

The unnamed government official described Russia's request as going beyond the JCPOA and said an interim agreement with Iran could include sanctions relief in exchange for halting some of Iran's nuclear activities. The Iranian government has repeatedly rejected the idea of ​​an interim agreement in recent months.

In recent days, Russia has asked the United States to provide a written guarantee that, after the JCPOA is revived, Western sanctions against that country due to its aggression against Ukraine will not affect economic and military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's representative in the nuclear negotiations, has defended his country's condition, saying that the goal of the JCPOA is for Iran to have normal economic relations with the world, including Russia, and therefore, if an agreement is reached, Moscow's trade relations with Tehran should be exempt from current and future sanctions by the European Union and the United States.

The US government had previously said in response to this request that US sanctions against Russia had nothing to do with the JCPOA.

The Wall Street Journal also reported, quoting a senior US government official, that Russia's request is the "most serious obstacle" to reaching an agreement to revive the JCPOA.

European countries participating in the JCPOA negotiations, including Germany, Britain, and France, have also warned in the past two days that Russia's insistence on its new condition amounts to "taking the JCPOA hostage" and could destroy the revival of the nuclear agreement.

Two days ago, the AFP news agency also reported, citing a Western diplomat, that if it becomes clear that Russia's decision to block the JCPOA revival agreement is definitive, "we have a duty to examine other options and we will not allow Russia to hold the JCPOA hostage."

In recent days, Iranian government officials have repeatedly cited the "US government's opposition" to some of Iran's demands, including those related to the scope of sanctions and guarantees that Washington will not withdraw from the JCPOA again, as the main reason for the failure of the negotiations, while at the same time confirming that Russia has also made a new request.

In the latest reaction, Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said on Saturday, referring to Russia's condition during the negotiations to revive the JCPOA, that the request was "new" and that "any country can make a request." He added that "all these requests will be reviewed by the joint commission in Vienna."

The eighth round of negotiations to revive the JCPOA in Vienna, which was underway with the presence of Iran, the JCPOA member states, and the indirect presence of the United States, was interrupted after Russia announced a new condition.

After the break was announced, Enrique Moura, the European coordinator of the negotiations, stressed that a final agreement was not far away and expressed hope that the talks would resume "very soon."

He did not give a specific time for the talks to resume. Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, also said that returning to talks “requires some preparations and it is not clear when we will return to talks.”

Source: Radio Farda