Iran Has No Immediate Plans To Resurrect The Nuclear Deal

Iran's current administration is not in a rush to push for the negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement before the new government under President-elect Ebrahim Raisi takes power in August, a top official announced here.

"If what we have in mind is ensured, there will be no delay, but if it is not, the continuation of the negotiations will be adjourned to the next government," Ali Rabiei, the spokesman for the outgoing administration of President Hassan Rouhani, said in a briefing on Tuesday.

Reiterating remarks made on Sunday by Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi, Rabiei said all the issues needed to be negotiated to revive the agreement have already been discussed, reports Xinhua news agency.

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Tehran is now waiting for its counterparts including the US to announce their own political decisions, to "talk more clearly in the next round of talks based on that", the spokesman added. A consensus, he noted, already exists regarding the removal of sanctions related to the main sectors of Iran's economy, such as energy, finance, banking, and insurance, but all issues must be settled for an agreement to exist in practice.

Iranian President during a visit of Semnan Province.Wikimedia Commons

"We have come to the conclusion that the negotiations have lasted sufficiently, and we expect the US side to make its final decision to return to its obligations and implement international rules," Rabiei said.

On Monday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry once again urged the parties in the Vienna talks to make their decisions on the revitalization of the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

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Iran and the P4+1, namely the UK, China, France, Russia, and Germany, with the indirect involvement of the US, have conducted six rounds of negotiations in the Austrian capital since April 6 aimed at reviving the JCPOA. Despite progress in the negotiations, the parties have announced that some "serious" differences were yet to be resolved.

At the end of the latest round of talks, Araqchi had said that it was the time for the parties to make their "decisions" over the remaining issues. The US government under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the international deal in May 2018 and unilaterally reimposed sanctions on Iran.

In response, Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments to the agreement from May 2019. Since April 6, the Joint Commission of the nuclear agreement has continued discussions about a possible return of the US to the deal and how to ensure the full and effective implementation. (IANS/KB)