Some Key Issues Remain to Be Settled in Vienna Talks: Iran

Iran has reacted to comments by Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative at the JCPOA Joint Commission, who has indicated that the current negotiations in Vienna could be the last and final round of talks.

“We once again announce the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran; we carefully move forward with the talks we are holding in Vienna,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh.

“Any round of talks could have been the last one, but the negotiations continued as some issues had still remained [unresolved],” said the spokesman in a press conference on Monday.

“If the outstanding key issues are settled, the talks could be the last round, but otherwise, they will continue,” he said.

“Basically, we shouldn’t rush to judgement about which round of talks could be the last one,” he noted.

“Good and considerable progress has been made with the negotiations in all three working groups, but key issues remain. These issue should be settled carefully, too,” the spokesman added.

He noted all US sanctions should be lifted and Iran should verify that the sanctions have actually been removed.

“This verification will take place within the framework of the formulas being discussed in Vienna,” he said.

After that, he added, Iran will roll back the measures it has adopted in response to the US and other parties’ failure to live up to their commitments.

“There are no deadlocks in the Vienna talks, and we have come to reviewing key issues,” said Khatibzadeh.

“Neither are we in a rush to reach an agreement, nor do we allow the talks to drag on,” he said.

“If decisions need to be made in Tehran with regards to the talks, the issue will definitely be brought up in the capital,” said the spokesman.

He said people’s rights and interests are the yardstick against which to measure other things.

“Accordingly, the Iranian negotiating team has moved forward with the talks based on the executive instructions of the capital,” he added.

He reiterated that all sanctions imposed on Iran by former US President Donald Trump are aimed at depriving Iranian people of the benefits of the JCPOA.