On Thursday, December 9, Iran and the five other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal will begin a new round of talks in Vienna, Austria, aiming at removing the US sanctions placed on Iran following its exit from the agreement and reviving the dormant international agreement.
Iran’s chief negotiator in the Vienna talks, Ali Bagheri-Kani, who is in Moscow for talks with Russian officials, announced the finalised date on Tuesday and said Tehran’s two proposed draughts, which were presented during the seventh round of talks with the other signatories to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can seriously advance the negotiation process.
He added that he “saw it necessary to hold consultations with Russian officials so that we will continue the negotiations on Thursday in a progressive and constructive atmosphere.”
The two proposed draughts, according to Bagheri-Kani, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, were nothing new and were in line with the texts that had previously been agreed upon by both sides during the previous six rounds of talks, but with some amendments and additions to make up for the shortcomings.
Since the start of the seventh round of the Vienna negotiations, a senior Iranian diplomat said, the country has undertaken similar conversations with Chinese officials.
Former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the JCPOA in May 2018. Trump subsequently launched a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran’s economy, which failed to persuade Iran to agree to a “new deal.”
Diplomats from the participant countries gathered in Vienna on Monday for the seventh time, after a hiatus in the talks due to the presidential election in Iran. Five days of intensive talks ended on Friday after the sides returned to their respective capitals for more consultations.
Bagheri-Kani announced last week that Iran had submitted two proposed drafts to the other parties concerning the removal of sanctions and Tehran’s nuclear commitments, and is about to put forward a third draft.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the talks, he said the P4+1 group of countries had been given the chance to consult with their capitals on the Islamic Republic’s proposed drafts, and that Tehran expected a “reasonable, documented and rational” response.
Iran and the five remaining JCPOA parties began discussions in April in Vienna with the goal of lifting sanctions after the US, led by President Joe Biden, expressed willingness to return to the pact.
Diplomats from the participating countries met in Vienna for the seventh time on Monday, following a gap caused by Iran’s presidential election. The sides returned to their respective capitals for more consultations after five days of hectic talks finished on Friday.
Last week, Bagheri-Kani claimed that Iran had submitted two proposed texts to the other parties regarding the easing of sanctions and Tehran’s nuclear commitments, and that a third draught is likely to be submitted.
Bagheri-Kani and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met in Moscow on Tuesday and emphasised the significance of maintaining bilateral consultations on international issues as well as future negotiations between Iran and the P4+1.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, a spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, told reporters on Tuesday that Tehran approached the new round of talks with the P4+1 countries with “goodwill and seriousness,” and urged the other side, particularly the Westerners, to do the same so that the two sides could reach an agreement.
“Given what is in the possession of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it seems that the ground is fertile for a win-win agreement since Iran will not accept a win-lose negotiation at all,” the Iranian lawmaker added.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, he added, had presented the committee with a report on the recent negotiations with the P4+1 countries, as well as other aspects of the country’s foreign policy.
