Continuation of JCPOA Negotiations Following the Raisi Government’s Taking Office

A diplomatic source told Reuters that “Iran is not ready to participate in JCPOA revival negotiations before the Raisi government takes office”. So far, six rounds of negotiations have been held to revive the nuclear agreement.

Reuters reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic official, that “Iran will not participate in the seventh round of JCPOA revival negotiations in Austria before Ibrahim Raisi’s government takes office”.

According to Reuters, the Islamic Republic has informed the European Union’s foreign policy chief that it is not ready to resume Vienna talks negotiations before Ibrahim Raisi’s government takes office in early August.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson also confirmed that Iran has requested more time due to “government transition”. He said: “We were ready to continue the talks, but the Iranians requested more time because of the government transition following the presidential elections.”

Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, said on Wednesday, July 14, that “the opportunity to reach a nuclear agreement was taken away from his government and he regrets the loss of this opportunity”. He also expressed hope that Ibrahim Raisi’s government would “complete the work”.

So far, six rounds of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States to revive the nuclear agreement have been held in Vienna, the capital of Austria, but disagreements remain and the two countries have not yet announced a date for the next round of talks.

According to Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative to the JCPOA Joint Commission, issues such as lifting sanctions against Ali Khamenei and the institutions under the Office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as U.S. assurances against repeating its withdrawal from the JCPOA in the future, remain to be agreed upon.

Source: DW