Iran sees ‘promising’ prospects for Vienna talks: President’s aide

Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran’s presidential chief of staff, said the ongoing talks in the Austrian capital have made “good progress” though they have been tough.

“Although the negotiations are difficult, given last week's discussions, the outlook could be promising,” he tweeted.

Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA – France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China – have been in talks since early April in an effort to bring back to life the deal three years after former US president Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned it and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Vaezi said the talks are aimed at getting US sanctions removed and realizing the rights of the Iranian nation.

He warned that any move by Iran’s political factions or media outlets that would send a “massage of division” is against national interests and undermines Iranian negotiators.

Participants in Vienna talks agreed during the fourth round of weekly talks that began on Friday to “intensify the process” with diplomats hoping an agreement can be reached before Iran’s June presidential election.

On Saturday, the European Union, which coordinates talks, said there seems to be a “sense of urgency” among all negotiators to reach an agreement.  

“Time is not on our side. Happy to see that all delegations, including Iran and the US, say they share that sense,” EU representative Enrique Mora wrote on Twitter.

The US is not taking part in the meetings directly and European diplomats are acting as intermediaries.

Besides the Iran election, another source of time pressure is the looming expiration of a three-month agreement between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The agreement announced in February allows the IAEA to maintain a level of oversight of Iran's nuclear facilities despite Tehran's suspension of some inspections by the body.

Under the agreement, Iran pledged to keep recordings "of some activities and monitoring equipment" and hand them over to the IAEA as and when US sanctions are lifted.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who is the head of the Iranian delegation to the Vienna talks, told NHK that Iran may consider extending the deal with the IAEA.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who met Araqchi on Thursday, said that Iran would destroy the camera data if an agreement was not reached in time, adding: "Let's hope it hasn't happened."

‘Onus on US’

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday rebuked Trump as a “disgraced buffoon”, marking the third anniversary of his withdrawal from the JCPOA.

“As we try to revive JCPOA in Vienna, it's necessary to remember how it all started. 3 years ago today, a disgraced buffoon violated US obligations under JCPOA & UNSCR 2231,” Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, referring to a UN Security Council resolution that was adopted in 2015 to endorse the deal

He added that current US President Joe Biden has to decide now whether the US continues its “lawlessness” or adhere to law”.

The top diplomat stressed that “onus is on US, not Iran”.

Source: Iran Daily