Vienna, SAEDNEWS: Araqchi made the remarks in reaction to comments coming out of Washington alleging that Tehran’s assertion that the US has to lift the sanctions first showed the Islamic Republic’s lack of seriousness in the JCPOA’s revival.
Such remarks, he told press tv, are indicative of “a lack of seriousness on their [own] side since they have left the JCPOA, and they have imposed sanctions”.
“That is quite logical and a very reasonable demand by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Araqchi said. “They (Americans) have left the JCPOA, and they have imposed sanctions. So obviously if they want to come back, they will have to lift all those sanctions, all together, in one step.”
The Iranian negotiator noted that Iran had never sought to avoid compliance with the nuclear accord, saying if Tehran was after such a goal, it would have left the deal far earlier after Washington quit it.
He also reaffirmed that the nuclear deal Joint Commission meeting in Vienna on Tuesday did not feature any American representatives, and that it just involved Iran’s discussions with the remaining JCPOA participants or the P4+1 — Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
The remaining signatories “would then later talk with Americans. And that’s their business. We’re not engaged in that business. We only negotiate with the G4+1.”
The JCPOA Joint Commission held its 18th round of talks in the Austrian city of Vienna, with representatives of Iran, Russia, China, France and Britain in attendance.
The US has been absent from the Commission and its discussions since 2018, when former American president Donald Trump took Washington out of the JCPOA and returned the sanctions that the nuclear accord had lifted.
Araqchi also commented on a tweet by the Russian envoy to Vienna-based organizations, Mikhail Ulyanov, who has called the talks “successful.”
He said the parties to the talks “are on the right track,” and Iran was likewise “hopeful,” otherwise it would not join the negotiations.
However, the official stated that the talks could only be described as a success if “the other side can meet our demands”.
Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiyee had on Tuesday reiterated his country’s position that the remedial measures adopted under the nuclear deal to retaliate the world powers’ disloyalty to the agreement will not be reversed by Iran until the US lifts all its sanctions.
“Implementation of the nuclear deal is as simple as its violation by the US. Iran will not reverse the steps it has taken in reduction of its obligations until the sanctions are completely lifted. No step-by-step plan has been announced by us and Iran has not accepted any such plan,” Rabiyee told reporters in a press conference in Tehran.
He referred to the today meeting of the nuclear deal Joint Commission in Vienna, and said, “Today, we are at the beginning of a plan to revive the nuclear deal and the US government has no choice but to end its law-breaking behavior and illegal sanctions.”
Rabiyee said that the agenda of the Tuesday meeting in Vienna is to lift the US cruel sanctions against Iran and studying ways that the other side fulfills its undertakings.
“What Iran will do is within the framework of the previous declaration, that is lifting of all US sanctions and all sanctions imposed on the Iranian people or re-imposed or relabeled on different pretexts after Trump came to power, and all these should be removed, and this is a clear logic, and all these measures should be verified,” he added.
“We welcome any US move to correct the wrong path of the past and return to the right path. No direct or indirect talks with no US sides has or will take place in Vienna or anywhere else. We will provide the G4+1 with the course of action that the US should pave and the comprehensive sanctions that it should lift,” Rabiyee said.
He also underlined Iran’s good progress in developing its peaceful nuclear program, and said, “So far, 6 complete IR2M cascades have been installed in Natanz. Also, two complete IR4 cascades and one complete IR6 cascade have been installed. The capacity of the installed centrifuge machines is currently 16,500 SWUs (Separative Working Units), while the maximum capacity before the nuclear deal stood at 13,000 SWUs.”
Iran announced on Sunday that the country’s officials will have no talks with their American counterparts in Vienna, saying that Tehran will only hold technical negotiations with the Group 4+1.
“In Vienna, we will not have any talks with the Americans, either directly or indirectly. We will negotiate with the Joint Commission and the G4 + 1 countries, and we will declare our demand and condition to return to the nuclear deal," Araqchi said, and added, "Our demand and condition is that the US should first fulfill all its nuclear deal undertakings and lift all sanctions, and then we will verify it and return (to our modified undertakings).”
He described the Tuesday talks with the G4+1 as technical, and said they will focus on the sanctions which should be lifted and the measures that should be adopted and their order and sequence, and the verifying measures which need to be taken.
“We do not have or accept any step-by-step proposal. In our view, there is no step but one that the US should take; it should lift all sanctions that were re-imposed during Trump’s era or were imposed recently or re-labeled, and these should be defined, and the US should lift them, and then we will verify and revive our undertakings,” Araqchi said.
“The final step that they and we have to take should be precisely specified, and it will be clear only in our technical talks with the G4+1 countries,” he added.
Iran’s foreign ministry had also on Saturday dismissed any step-by-step lifting of the illegal US sanctions entailing reciprocal actions by Tehran and Washington, stressing that Iran won’t concede to any plan for the revival of nuclear deal except for a full removal of all sanctions beforehand.
"As has been clearly stated many times, no step-by-step plan is being considered," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
“The definitive policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the lifting of all US sanctions, whether those which Trump re-imposed after leaving the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] or those which he initiated, as well as sanctions imposed under any other title," he added.
His remarks came in response to claims made by US State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Jalina Porter, who has said on Friday that Washington would lift sanctions step-by-step in line with Iran’s return to its commitments.
Also, on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Commission meeting in Vienna is due to finalize the moves needed to revive the nuclear deal, but further rejected any kind of talks with the US.
“At virtual JCPOA JC meeting, Iran & EU/E3+2 agreed to resume in-person talks in Vienna next Tues,” Zarif wrote on his Twitter page, pointing to the JCPOA Joint Commission that was held virtually earlier on the day, adding that the Tuesday session will be focused on ‘rapidly’ finalizing the lifting of sanctions by the US.
He noted that once the sanctions are removed, Iran will stop its remedial measures.
Zarif also reacted to some reports on the US’ presence in the upcoming meeting, saying there won't be any Iran-US meeting as it would be "Unnecessary" (Source: Fars News).
Iran Has Shouldered the Whole Burden of JCPOA While It's a Multilateral Deal, Deputy FM Says
