Results of the JCPOA negotiations: Step-by-step agreement or lifting of all sanctions?

The fourth round of JCPOA negotiations has ended. The parties are said to be returning to their countries for “final consultations.” The specific outcome of these four rounds of talks has not been made public. Despite this, there is talk of a step-by-step agreement.

It has been about two weeks since the start of the fourth round of negotiations of the Joint Commission on the JCPOA in Vienna. The talks have been pursued at several levels.

On the one hand, political representatives of the countries involved in the 2015 nuclear deal met at the level of deputy foreign ministers, and on the other hand, a meeting of experts from these countries was held in three working groups that were formed to return the United States to the nuclear deal and for Iran to adhere to its obligations under the JCPOA.

Abbas Araqchi, political deputy to Mohammad Javad Zarif, has said that on Wednesday, May 19, political representatives of the 4+1 countries, along with US representatives, will meet to reach a conclusion to these four rounds of talks.

After that, the political delegations of the relevant countries are scheduled to return to their countries to consult with their governments.

Although Araqchi spoke of progress in the negotiations, he pointed to "several key issues" that still remain unresolved.

According to the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, decisions on “these key issues” are subject to consultation with the leaders of these countries.

No explanation has been provided by the Islamic Republic's political delegation regarding these key issues in the Vienna negotiations.

Khamenei and the JCPOA negotiations

As the talks progressed in the fourth round of the Joint Commission on the JCPOA in Vienna, Hassan Rouhani announced on May 19 at a government meeting that the results of these talks would be followed up with Khamenei's supervision and discretion.

Rouhani has spoken of Iran's success in the JCPOA talks and announced that these negotiations were guided by the leadership. He said: "We went step by step to the service of the master, who was also the head of the forces, and he helped us at different stages, both in writing and orally."

The Iranian president has emphasized that these orders have been implemented “step by step” and “this has always been the way the leadership has guided and helped.”

Step-by-step agreement or lifting sanctions altogether

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has spoken about the step-by-step actions taken by Iran and the United States to revive the nuclear agreement.

Ryabkov emphasized: "From our point of view, the return of the US to the nuclear deal is a key issue that must be resolved. On the other hand, the Vienna talks include all those issues that concern Iran's return to the obligations foreseen in the nuclear deal. We insist on the synchronism and coordination of these steps, although we know that Iran believes that the US should immediately lift all sanctions."

The Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs of the Russian Foreign Ministry has also announced that the issue of the Iran nuclear deal will also be raised at the meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia and the United States on Thursday, May 20, in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

This is the first meeting between Sergey Lavrov and Antony Blinken since the Biden administration began. The two have, of course, spoken by phone before.

Disagreements among political factions in Iran

A step-by-step agreement with the US on returning to the JCPOA is among the issues that factions in Iran oppose. Araqchi, as well as Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, have repeatedly spoken of lifting all sanctions.

On Wednesday, May 19, the "Entekhab" website addressed the statements of Mahmoud Naboyan, Tehran's representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran.

Naboian is among those who believe that all sanctions should be lifted and therefore do not consider negotiations with the US necessary. He has said: “Verification is not possible in the short term and the US should lift all sanctions on Iran completely and at once.”

He said: "The Americans are not going to lift one of our sanctions today and then lift another a few months later, if they wish."

Tehran’s representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly has spoken of 1,600 sanctions. He says the Americans are talking about 1,500 sanctions. Naboyan has emphasized that the Assembly expects the negotiating team to tell the Americans that “the number of sanctions is 1,600.”

It should be noted that the United States does not consider some of the sanctions that target Iran's missile activities, support for terrorism, or human rights violations in the country to be included in the JCPOA sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

In another part of his speech, Naboyan criticized the performance of Zarif and Rouhani, saying: "You brought this hell and economic disaster upon the people with your wrong policies... Unfortunately, the government's weak performance and the blows that Rouhani and Zarif dealt to the country caused everything in this country to be destroyed, and it will take 50 years for the country's situation to return to normal."

On the other hand, the Iranian student news agency "ISNA" has confirmed the news of the meeting between Majid Takht-Ravanchi, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to the United Nations, and Chris Murphy, the Democratic US senator.

Shahrokh Nazemi, press secretary for Iran's mission to the United Nations, said that the meeting took place virtually.

It is said that issues such as the nuclear talks in Vienna as well as the issue of prisoner exchange were raised in this conversation.

Source: DW