Khatibzadeh: America has adopted a "delay policy" towards the revival of the JCPOA

The spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran's Foreign Ministry says that an exchange of messages between Iran and the United States is underway through Enrique Moura. The atmosphere in Vienna is favorable for the revival of the JCPOA, but Washington is pursuing a "policy of delay."

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, emphasized in his weekly press conference on Monday, April 10, that "the atmosphere in Vienna is not negative at the moment," adding: "We will not agree on anything until we agree on the whole."

According to Iranian news agencies, Khatibzadeh stated that "there are still issues remaining," and announced: "There are no plans to make any changes to the JCPOA, and once the remaining issues are resolved, we can say that an agreement is within reach."

Emphasizing that "Iran and the 4+1 have done all their work and are waiting for an appropriate response from Washington to address the concerns," Khatibzadeh said, "What is being discussed in Vienna is in compliance with all the provisions of the JCPOA, and the two JCPOA documents and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 are the criteria for action."

He also claimed that agreements had been made regarding the return of frozen funds to Iran, which were "not related to the United States."

Khatibzadeh's hopeful statements about the revival of the JCPOA and the release of Iran's frozen funds come at a time when US State Department spokesman Ned Price emphasized that all US sanctions will remain in place until there is a reciprocal return to the JCPOA.

In a press conference on Thursday, Mr. Price emphasized that some news and reports published about the lifting of sanctions were false and inaccurate, and clarified that no progress had been made in the negotiations to revive the JCPOA. Referring to the incorrectness of reports about the release of frozen Iranian funds, he said that US partners have not provided these funds to Iran, Iranian funds held in frozen accounts in third countries have not been released, and the United States has not issued any authorization in this regard or approved its transfer to Iran.

The Islamic Republic of Iran's officials' hope for the revival of the JCPOA despite the suspension of the Vienna negotiations comes at a time when, according to Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, "the Iranian side's request and insistence to remove the name of the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list of terrorist organizations that have nothing to do with the JCPOA has caused problems in the negotiations process."