Conflicting assessments from Tehran and Moscow on Vienna nuclear talks; Shamkhani expresses pessimism
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in a post that reflects his pessimism about the status of nuclear negotiations in Vienna, said that the work of Islamic Republic representatives in negotiations to advance Tehran’s positions is becoming “harder by the hour.”
Shamkhani wrote in a tweet published on Sunday that after a phone conversation with Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and senior nuclear negotiator for the Islamic Republic, it became clear to him that “the work of Iran’s negotiators to advance Tehran’s logical and lawful guidelines” is becoming more difficult every moment.
He also accused “Western parties” in the Vienna negotiations of wanting to “escape” their commitments by “displaying initiative.”
The pessimistic remarks of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary came on the same day that Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative in the JCPOA revival talks, tweeted that assessments of the current state of Vienna talks are “positive.”
Ulyanov has previously, despite Western countries’ concerns about the direction of JCPOA negotiations, mostly expressed optimism.
Bloomberg News says that Ulyanov did not provide more details about his Sunday optimism.
Germany previously called the proposals presented by Iran in the seventh round of JCPOA revival talks unacceptable and announced that the Iranian delegation is expected to participate in negotiations with “realistic” proposals. Iran has repeatedly emphasized what it calls receiving “guarantees” from America for not withdrawing from the JCPOA again. American officials have said they cannot provide the guarantees Tehran is looking for.
Shamkhani’s remarks come at a time when Western officials say Vienna talks are in their final stages and the time for Iran’s “political decisions” has arrived.
CNN reported last week, citing American officials, that the Joe Biden administration, the U.S. president, believes that given the pace of Iran’s nuclear program advancement, Washington has until the end of February to save Iran’s nuclear deal, otherwise America must change course and launch aggressive efforts to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Indirect negotiations between the U.S. government and the Islamic Republic in Vienna have been ongoing for several months. After Donald Trump, the former U.S. president, withdrew from the JCPOA, Joe Biden said that if Iran returns to its JCPOA commitments, he would also bring America back to the nuclear agreement.
Source: Voice of America
