Iran says it seeks ‘serious’ deal as JCPOA talks resume

Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran is serious about reaching an agreement with the US over a mutual return to full compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and Iranian diplomats are willing to stay as long as it takes in Vienna, where the negotiations are taking place.

"Over the past eight years, enough has been talked about and promised without any follow-through," Amir-Abdollahian said today. "Today is the time to act — we are trying to reach a serious and good agreement."

Amir-Abdollahian was speaking ahead of talks taking place in the Austrian capital today between Iran and all original parties to the nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), including the US, after they broke up on 3 December to deliberate.

The previous round of talks aimed at reviving the nuclear deal began on 29 November on a positive note, with US and European diplomats commending their Iranian counterparts for agreeing to continue the negotiations from where their predecessors in the previous administration of Hassan Rohani left.

But the early optimism faded after Iran submitted what the White House described as "non-constructive" proposals outlining how Tehran would return to compliance with the restrictions imposed on its nuclear programme under the JCPOA once the US also returned to full compliance and lifted sanctions on Iran.

"If our European colleagues studied the texts Iran has proposed carefully and without wrong assumptions, they would realise that they are within the framework of the JCPOA and focus on the topics that were left unfinished at [the conclusion of] the June 2021 talks," Amir-Abdollahian said.

He said it was natural that Iran's partners — particularly those in the West — would have different points of view to Tehran in terms of how to approach the current stand-off, but urged them to engage and put forward ideas rather than "negative political" statements in the media.

"Thus far, we have received no constructive or forward-looking proposals from the other side, which goes against all their announcements of being serious in these talks," Amir-Abdollahian said. "We are all in Vienna to negotiate to reach a good agreement."

The talks in Vienna today resumed with a meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA, that brings together all remaining signatories to the agreement, comprising Iran, Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany.

This will be followed by "a number of bilateral and multilateral" meetings, according to senior EU envoy Enrique Mora. Any discussions between Iran and the US will be indirect and take place through EU mediation.

By Nader Itayim