Iran Emphasizes Previous Week’s Positions in Vienna Talks; UAE Official Says He Does Not Support Increased Sanctions
With the resumption of talks to revive the JCPOA in Vienna, Iran’s senior negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani emphasized on Thursday, December 9, that Tehran remains committed to the positions it announced last week; positions that the US has said demonstrate Iran’s lack of seriousness at the negotiating table.
According to Reuters, representatives of the European Union and Russia also called for greater urgency in Iran’s negotiations with world powers in Vienna.
Enrique Mora, the EU coordinator for JCPOA revival talks, also told reporters that the parties do not have much time. He said: “What I felt this morning… from all delegations, was a renewed sense of the need to work to reach an agreement on reviving the JCPOA.”
Iran wants all sanctions that were imposed in 2018 and after Donald Trump, the former US president, withdrew from the JCPOA to be lifted in a “verifiable” process.
However, the negotiating parties to the talks say that the hardline administration of Ebrahim Raisi in Iran has abandoned many of the compromises that were made during six rounds of talks to revive the JCPOA and has raised additional demands.
On the other hand, Reuters reported that the US State Department announced on Thursday that the administration of President Joe Biden is taking steps to intensify sanctions against Iran by sending a high-level delegation to the United Arab Emirates next week.
The delegation, which includes Andrea Gacki, head of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the US Treasury, will warn banks in the Emirates that conduct business with the Islamic Republic of Iran and do not comply with sanctions.
Meanwhile, the UAE newspaper “The National” reported that the UAE’s adviser minister for foreign affairs said he does not support increased sanctions against Iran in the event of failed Vienna talks. Anwar Gargash, who recently met with Ali Bagheri Kani in the Emirates, said there are currently “sufficient” sanctions in place.
Gargash, speaking at the “Arab Gulf States Institute” in Washington, said that “our eyes are on the JCPOA process.” He said we want this process to succeed and added “but we hope that this process will lead to some form of agreement on dialogue that includes more countries…”
According to The National, Anwar Gargash asked Iran to show more flexibility in the JCPOA revival talks and said: “The way forward is diplomacy, but at the same time, we do not have much time, because there is real concern… about nuclear developments.”
Recently, a senior UAE security official also traveled to Tehran at the head of a delegation and met and held talks with senior Iranian officials, including Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Iran, by expanding its nuclear activities, has violated many of its JCPOA commitments, and American officials have warned that with this process, a return to the JCPOA may no longer benefit the US and its allies.
Source: Voice of America
