Ned Price: We hope Iranian officials will travel to Vienna in good faith

A US State Department spokesperson says the Vienna talks should focus on the remaining points at the end of the sixth round. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki also said the US remains committed to pursuing a diplomatic path to address Iran's nuclear program.

Ali Bagheri Kani, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, has announced that negotiations to revive the JCPOA will begin before the end of November and the exact date will be determined soon.

In response to these remarks, White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said: "We will await the European Union's approval in this regard."

Ali Bagheri Kani wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, October 27, after meeting with Enrique Moura, the EU's deputy foreign policy coordinator: "I had a serious and constructive conversation with Enrique Moura about the essential elements of successful negotiations. We agreed to start negotiations before the end of November (second week of Azar)."

US State Department spokesman Ned Price also reacted cautiously to the announcement. "The talks should focus on finalizing the remaining points at the end of the sixth round of talks in Vienna," Price was quoted as saying by AFP.

He added that the United States is ready to return to the Vienna talks and believes in quickly reaching an understanding and full bilateral adherence to the JCPOA.

Price had also stated a week earlier: "We believe that the [JCPOA revival] negotiations in Vienna should resume as soon as possible and from where they left off in June."

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a similar statement: "Our framework remains compliance-for-compliance."

Since Ebrahim Raisi, the 13th Prime Minister, took office, there has been a four-month hiatus in the JCPOA Joint Commission negotiations. The sixth round of the JCPOA Joint Commission negotiations ended on June 20.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed hope that Iranian officials would travel to Vienna “in good faith,” noting that the opportunity for these talks “does not last forever.”

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of the 13th government, addressed the President of the United States at the end of the Afghanistan Neighbors Meeting in Tehran and said, "If America has good intentions, it should release $10 billion of Iranian assets."

Source: DW