Vienna talks: Bagheri: There is no guarantee of crossing the finish line

While Ali Bagheri, the Islamic Republic's chief negotiator, says that no matter how close we are to the end line of negotiations, "there is not necessarily a guarantee that we will cross it," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, considers reaching a good agreement "possible."

Mr. Bagheri placed all responsibility for the conclusion of the negotiations on the Western parties on Twitter, writing: "To complete the work, there are specific decisions that the Western parties must make."

This is while Ali Shamkhani wrote in a tweet: "Achieving a good agreement is possible due to significant progress in the negotiations, which was mainly due to Iranian initiatives."

However, he made the final stage of the Vienna talks conditional on "balancing" the agreement, which he said could be achieved through "political decision-making by the West."

Shamkhani had previously described the JCPOA agreement as an "empty shell" in different positions.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a telephone conversation with his British counterpart Liz Truss, also said that accelerating the process of reaching an agreement depends on "taking a courageous and realistic political decision by the Western parties to guarantee and secure Iran's interests."

He emphasized, among other things, the "objective lifting of sanctions," which he said would lead to a "lasting agreement."

The statements of these two high-ranking foreign policy officials of the Islamic Republic regarding the necessity of taking fundamental measures by the West come at a time when Western powers have regularly warned Iran in recent weeks that there is not much time left for an agreement.

Iranian media have also reported that Ali Bagherikani left for Tehran on the evening of Wednesday, March 25, on a "very short trip," but members of the Iranian expert delegation will be present in Vienna and continue consultations.

Behrouz Kamalvandi, the organization's spokesman, has also traveled to Vienna to conduct technical consultations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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.

The Donald Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed severe sanctions on Iran a few months later. In response, the Iranian government suspended some of its commitments to the JCPOA and increased the volume and quota of uranium enrichment.

Although news of an agreement to revive the JCPOA was expected to be released this weekend, it is unclear what impact the Russian attack on Ukraine and the escalating differences between the West and Russia, which are participating in the JCPOA negotiations, will have on the agreement process.

Source: Radio Farda