Iran, P4+1 set to resume sanctions removal talks in Vienna Thursday

Iran’s chief negotiator to the Vienna talks Ali Bagheri-Kani, who is in Moscow for talks with Russian officials, on Tuesday announced the finalized date and said Tehran’s two proposed drafts put forward during the seventh round of talks with the other signatories to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can seriously advance the negotiation process.

He added that he “saw it necessary to hold consultations with Russian officials so that we will continue the negotiations on Thursday in a progressive and constructive atmosphere.”

Bagheri-Kani, who serves as Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, explained that the two proposed drafts were nothing new and were in compliance with the texts that had earlier been agreed upon by both sides during the previous six rounds of the talks, but with some amendments and additions meant to make up for the shortcomings.

The senior Iranian diplomat said the country had held similar consultations with Chinese officials as well since the beginning of the seventh round of the Vienna talks.

The JCPOA was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump in May 2018. Trump then targeted Iran’s economy with what he called the “maximum pressure” campaign, which failed to compel Iran to negotiate a “new deal.”

Iran and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA began the talks in the Austrian capital in April with the aim of removing the sanctions after the US, under President Joe Biden, voiced a willingness to return to the agreement.

Diplomats from the participant countries gathered in Vienna on Monday for the seventh time, after a hiatus in the talks due to the presidential election in Iran. Five days of intensive talks ended on Friday after the sides returned to their respective capitals for more consultations.

Bagheri-Kani announced last week that Iran had submitted two proposed drafts to the other parties concerning the removal of sanctions and Tehran’s nuclear commitments, and is about to put forward a third draft.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the talks, he said the P4+1 group of countries had been given the chance to consult with their capitals on the Islamic Republic’s proposed drafts, and that Tehran expected a “reasonable, documented and rational” response.

In a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, Bagheri-Kani and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed the importance of continuing bilateral consultations on international issues and future talks between Iran and the P4+1.