Khatibzadeh: 98% of the text of the Vienna Agreement is ready, but three main issues have not been resolved
Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, says that "more than 98 percent of the text of the draft agreement to revive the JCPOA has been jointly written," but the US and Europe have not yet decided on the three main issues of "lifting sanctions, guarantees, and some claims" related to Iran's nuclear program.
Emphasizing that Iran's Supreme National Security Council is "leading the negotiations," he said that the council has given "the necessary instructions" to Ali Bagheri, Iran's chief negotiator in Vienna, and that Iran "definitely will not cross its red lines" and that Western countries "should not go any further."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman did not provide a detailed explanation of the red lines in question. Javad Karimi-Ghoddousi, a member of the National Security Commission of the Parliament, announced yesterday that “thirteen red lines have been identified by the Supreme National Security Council for the negotiating team.”
Iran's repeated demands for the West to take fundamental steps come at a time when Western powers have repeatedly warned Iran in recent weeks that there is little time left for an agreement.
According to media reports, Iran is demanding the lifting of all sanctions imposed during the Donald Trump era, but the United States says it cannot lift sanctions imposed for human rights reasons or "Iran's support for terrorism," and will lift nuclear sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA.
The Iranian government also wants a guarantee from the US government that it will not withdraw from the JCPOA again, but US government officials say they cannot provide such a guarantee.
Iran also calls some reports by the Atomic Energy Agency regarding Iran's cover-up in four areas involved in its nuclear program "political allegations" and says the Agency's investigation into this matter should be closed.
According to reports, IAEA inspectors have identified four “suspicious” sites in Iran, one in Turqoozabad, a suburb of Tehran, and another in Isfahan, both of which “were destroyed in 2003 and 2004, probably with the aim of eliminating uranium traces.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has also promised that if an agreement is reached in Vienna, the text of the agreement will be made public.
Regarding some speculation about setting a deadline for the end of negotiations to revive the JCPOA, he said that this is a "boring game" and that Western governments should have "good faith."
Mehdi Saadati, a representative from Babylon in the parliament and a member of the parliament's National Security Commission, has also said that the US "desperately needs" to return to the JCPOA and "it is not clear when the negotiations will reach a conclusion, but it seems that they have started a new game and are setting deadlines to apply pressure."
Ali Bagheri, Iran's senior representative in the negotiations to revive the JCPOA, returned to Vienna today. He had traveled to Tehran on March 25 for consultations on the JCPOA.
The eighth round of talks aimed at revitalizing the JCPOA is underway in Vienna, with representatives from Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany, the European Union, and the United States. US representatives are participating indirectly in the talks, and Iranian officials say they are not willing to negotiate directly with them.
The ultimate goal of these negotiations is to return to the spirit of the July 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, namely the lifting of sanctions against Iran, including major sanctions on industries and oil exports, in exchange for limiting Tehran's nuclear activities and extending the time required to produce the enriched uranium needed to build nuclear weapons.
Source: Radio Farda
