The growing problems of the Ukraine war will eventually push the US to agree to an agreement with Iran, announced a senior Iranian expert.
The political advisor of the Iranian negotiating team, Mohammad Marandi, told the official news agency IRNA that the failure to reach an agreement was due to US internal problems.
Marandi reiterated Iran’s determination to reach a good and lasting agreement.
“According to the Americans, Iran has been able to gain significant concessions in Vienna, so during the talks, some members of the American delegation resigned and left the team in protest,” Marandi said.
The expert referred to the “negative reactions” in Congress after the statement of the US envoy to Iran, Rob Malley.
Marandi was among the new members that joined the nuclear negotiating team after the hard-liner, Ali Bagheri Kani, took over the team’s presidency instead of the former deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.
He reported that things were moving fast during the last days of the negotiations, but the US team stopped working at once on various issues, including verification, lifting of sanctions, guarantees, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Experts say that the current team did not discuss beyond the issues stipulated in the 2015 Vienna agreement regarding Iranian nuclear steps, but the government insists on removing the IRGC from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).
Tehran’s demands to ease pressure on the IRGC came while the government refused to discuss its ballistic missile program or regional activities in the nuclear negotiations.
Marandi said that “there is no problem in European capitals and all other parties have no problem finalizing the deal, but “it remains to be seen what Biden will do to go on.”
Marandi stressed Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian’s discussions with the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who is represented by EU coordinator Enrique Mora in the Vienna talks.
A statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that the phone call between the officials dealt with the nuclear negotiations.
Abdollahian said the consultations would continue to lift the sanctions, adding that there is no doubt about the determination of the Iranian government to reach a “good, strong and lasting agreement.”
He added that the White House must put aside excessive demands and hesitation and take a step towards realism and propose solutions.
The EU foreign policy chief said the prolongation of the break in the talks is not constructive and suggested that talks between the EU envoy and Iran’s chief negotiator be resumed closely.
Borrell also referred to the war in Ukraine, describing it as a global crisis that could have negative consequences.
The European official said, “We believe that Iran wants an agreement and that there have been various initiatives which still exist and continue.”
Earlier, IRGC commander Ali Reza Tangsiri said that Iran would not abandon plans to avenge the 2020 US killing of al-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, despite “regular offers” from Washington to lift sanctions and provide other concessions in return.
A State Department spokesperson told Reuters that if Iran wanted sanctions relief beyond the 2015 nuclear deal, it must address US concerns beyond the pact.
“If Iran wants sanctions lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they will need to address concerns of ours beyond the JCPOA,” the US spokesperson said, referring to the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Conversely, if they do not want to use these talks to resolve other bilateral issues beyond the JCPOA, then we are confident that we can very quickly reach an understanding of the JCPOA and begin reimplementing the deal.”
“Iran needs to make a decision,” the spokesperson added.
Source » trackpersia