U.S. foot-dragging hinders ‘good deal’ on JCPOA: Iran

The United States is to blame for the delay in striking a good deal, a source close to the Iranian negotiating team said Wednesday, as the talks in Vienna for reviving the 2015 nuclear accord reached its final stages.

“The U.S. delegation has slowed down the process of reaching a good deal by dragging their feet in taking a political decision,” the source told IRNA.

The source added that an agreement on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) “requires, more than anything else, a U.S. response to [Iran’s] proposals made in the negotiations”.

After returning to the Austrian capital on Wednesday, Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani met Enrique Mora, the European Union’s political director who coordinates the talks between the Islamic Republic and France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China in which the U.S. has been involved indirectly.

Baqeri Kani left the talks unexpectedly on Monday for consultations in Tehran. 

Mora said on Monday the time had come for political decisions to be taken to end the negotiations.

Addressing a Board of Governors meeting, Iran’s acting ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said a successful conclusion of the Vienna talks would be possible if the US and the other signatories take the necessary political decisions

Mohammad Reza Ghaebi said on Tuesday “good faith” and the immediate removal of sanctions were required of the other parties to revive the JCPOA.

“A successful conclusion of the negotiations is not out of reach if the U.S. and other members of the JCPOA show good faith in the negotiations and make the necessary and the right political decisions to immediately lift the cruel and inhumane sanctions,” Ghaebi said, according to Press TV.

The JCPOA that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program is within touching distance of being restored after eleven months of talks.

But several issues remained unresolved including the extent to which sanctions on Iran would be removed.

The multilateral pact was plunged into disarray after the U.S. under former president Donald Trump unilaterally walked out of it in 2018 and reimposed and reinforced tough sanctions on Iran.

Iran seeks the removal of all those sanctions verifiably and assurances that the U.S. will not ditch the JCPOA again.

The negotiation also saw a last-minute demand from Russia for a guarantee from the United States that Western sanctions targeting Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine would not affect its business with Iran.

Russia’s Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan said Monday that the Russian government planned to give to Iran an explanation of the guarantees it has requested from the U.S.

Meanwhile, Russia's negotiator on Wednesday rejected as "nonsense" that his country had dominated the talks in Vienna.

"JCPOA opponents both in the U.S. and Iran in unison (which is very touching) spread misinformation by claiming that Russia dominated ViennaTalks. This is flattering but nonsense," Mikhail Ulyanov said on Twitter.

In another tweet, Ulyanov said he met Mora  "at the very last stage of diplomatic marathon towards restoration of the JCPOA".

The European parties to the JCPOA urged Russia on Tuesday not to add conditions that would complicate reaching a deal.

“The window of opportunity is closing. We call on all sides to make the decisions necessary to close this deal now, and on Russia not to add extraneous conditions to its conclusion,” Britain, France and Germany said in a joint statement to the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors, Reuters reported.

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland accused Russia of “broadening its demands” and seeking to reap extra benefits from the Vienna talks.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian talked to his Russian counterpart on Monday, saying Iran’s ties with any country, including Russia, should not be impacted by sanctions.

France on Tuesday warned that further delays in the Vienna talks could jeopardize the chances of reaching an agreement.

“We are very close to an agreement. It is essential we conclude while we still can,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre told reporters in a daily briefing. “We are concerned by the risks that further delays could weigh on the possibility of concluding.”

Source: Iran Daily