The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman has announced that all sanctions which constrain Iran’s economic benefits have to be removed.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani have discussed latest regional and international developments as well as the ongoing talks in Vienna regarding the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
On Saturday the top diplomats also stressed the importance of pursuing the implementations of the series of agreements that the two sides reached during the visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to the Gulf country, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
This comes as talks over the restoration of the nuclear deal, also known as the the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in Vienna were stalled on Friday, upon Russia’s, one of the original JCPOA signatories, demand for guarantees that its trade relations with Iran would not be affected by the newly-imposed United States sanctions on Moscow.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, described “the pause” in the Vienna talks to be a “momentum” for reaching a comprehensive conclusion and resolving any outstanding issue with regards to the deal.
Pause in #ViennaTalks could be a momentum for resolving any remaining issue and a final return.
Successful conclusion of talks will be the main focus of all.
No external factor will affect our joint will to go forward for a collective agreement. https://t.co/pAb0lzGjhd
— Saeed Khatibzadeh | سعید خطیب‌زاده (@SKhatibzadeh) March 11, 2022
Amirabdollahian criticised the US for “bringing up new issues” during the Vienna talks and reiterated that Iran is firmly working towards reaching a robust and sustainable agreement to revive the JCPOA.
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thani raised the importance of Iran and the other parties’ role in the Vienna negotiations and their efforts in reaching an agreement. He further emphasised the significance of Iranian and Qatari relations as well as the “positive outcomes” that were inked between the two countries during the President Raisi’s visit last month.
Russia and the JCPOA talks
Russia has asked the US to relieve some of its sanctions over the Ukraine invasion in exchange for its support on a renewed nuclear deal.
Although the JCPOA has not undergone a complete deterioration due to the Russian demands, it is still within Moscow’s capabilities to harm the US through “delaying the agreement at a crucial point of Washington’s vulnerability to high oil prices,” noted Dr Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, as well as the founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council.
“It may also have the ability to pull the plug on the agreement as a whole by triggering snap-back sanctions in the UN Security Council or preventing the Joint Commission from adopting the decision to bring the US back into the deal,” which will put into effect a drastic crisis between Tehran and Moscow, Dr Parsi added.
Iran is confronted with two difficult choices, which are either “accepting the potential collapse of the deal and continued US sanctions, or seeking a potential agreement with the US outside of the JCPOA,” with the latter fuelling tensions between Russia and Iran, he continued.
With the possible collapsing of the nuclear deal, Dr Parsi argues, it would be considered a shortcoming from the US administration as the revival of the 2015 deal was Biden’s Executive Order on the first day of his presidency.
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