Russian Envoy says Vienna talks may resume ‘hopefully in a few weeks’

Mikhail Ulyanov made the remarks in a post on his Twitter account on Monday, adding that the Vienna talks would be resumed "as soon as the Iranian side gets prepared."

"Looking forward to the resumption of the #ViennaTalks on #JCPOA as soon as the Iranian side gets prepared, hopefully in a few weeks," he said.

The tweet came after Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters at a virtual press conference on Monday that the new Iranian government of President Ebrahim Raeisi will definitely continue the talks in Vienna, emphasizing that Tehran has never bowed out of the negotiations, Press TV wrote.

The spokesman said Iran is experiencing a democratic transition of power with the administration of President Raeisi taking office, and the negotiating teams involved in the JCPOA talks would change in this process.

Addressing the Iranian Parliament after taking the oath of office as Iran’s eighth president, Raeisi said the US policy of imposing sanctions and mounting pressure on the Iranian people will not deter them from pursuing its legal rights, including the right to development.

“All sanctions on the Iranian nation must be removed and we support any diplomatic initiative that pursues this goal,” Raeisi added.

Raeisi also on Monday told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the rights of the Iranian nation must be guaranteed in any negotiations and its interests must be met.

Emphasizing that both the United States and European countries must fulfill their obligations as per the nuclear deal, Iran’s president said, “The rights of the Iranian nation must be guaranteed in any negotiations and the interests of our nation must be met.”

Since April, representatives from Iran and the remaining signatories to the JCPOA -- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- have been holding face-to-face talks in the Austrian capital aimed at bringing the US back to compliance and putting the deal back on track.

So far, six rounds of negotiations have been held in the Austrian capital, as a result of which, according to participants, “significant progress” has been made in the course of the “constructive” and “businesslike” talks.

However, disagreements have persisted over a number of issues, including how to sequence the US sanctions removal, with Tehran arguing that since Washington was the party that violated the terms of the agreement, it should take the first step back into compliance with the deal by removing its unilateral sanctions.

Source: Iran Daily