The exchange of messages between Iran and the United States on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal continues through the European Union coordinator of talks, Enrique Mora, despite the pause in negotiations in the Austrian capital Vienna, a senior Iranian diplomat said.
“Our dialogue in Vienna with the EU [as intermediary] is going on normally,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a regular press conference on Monday, ISNA reported.
He added, however, that US messages delivered by Mora before and after his visit to Tehran in March are nowhere near minimum-level requirements for a deal.
Vienna talks aim to restore the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which offered sanctions relief to Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program, but went out of shape when the US pulled out in 2018 and reimposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran, prompting it to scale down on its commitments.
Despite much progress over a year of discussion, the negotiations have been suspended over a few remaining differences.
Both sides blame each other for the pause, putting the onus on the other to make political decisions.
“It seems that Washington is adopting a policy of delaying,” Khatibzadeh said, adding that the negotiating team would return to Vienna as soon as the US provides responses about the outstanding issues.
The atmosphere in Vienna is not negative since Iran and the other five parties have completed their tasks and are waiting US responses, according to the diplomat.
“The atmosphere of Vienna is ready for reaching and signing an agreement,” he said.
On how long Iran would wait for a US response, he said the Islamic Republic has not kept its economy dependent on the result of Vienna talks and has implemented other parallel plans.
“Iran has had its second and third plans from the first day,” he said, referring to the government’s agenda to neutralize sanctions and develop a sanctions-resistant economy.
“We have been waiting for neither the US nor the Vienna talks.”
Asked if the passage of time would devalue a possible agreement in Vienna, Khatibzadeh said the JCPOA has already been non-functional for Iran for years, failing to provide the promised economic benefits.
“Only a part of the P4+1 have been compliant with just some parts of the JCPOA and we have complied proportionally. We’ll have to see what happens in the future,” he said.
The spokesman also stressed that the 2015 deal is not set to be modified and the points of reference are the texts of both the JCPOA and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed it.
“The two documents have been our criteria, including the time frames determined in this agreement,” he said.
Outstanding Issues
A key area of conflict is Iran’s demand for the removal of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps from the list of terrorist organizations, which Tehran deems part of the US so-called maximum pressure campaign, launched by former US president Donald Trump after the exit from JCPOA.
Washington refuses to delist the elite military group within the framework of Vienna talks, saying the issue is non-nuclear.
“America cannot spend all our time and energy on its attempt to maintain some components of the maximum pressure and Trump’s legacy,” he said. “All elements of this pressure campaign must be revoked.”
Iran also insists that its chain of economic benefit from the JCPOA must be ensured completely.
“What has remained between us and the US are shortcomings in both these areas,” Khatibzadeh said.
The US has reportedly asked that Iran drop the case of General Qasem Soleimani, a top commander who was assassinated on Trump’s direct order while on an anti-terrorist mission in Iraq, as a prerequisite for an agreement.
“It is a definite principle in the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy that these people [responsible for the assassination] must be brought to justice,” the diplomat said.
