Removal of sanctions main topic of JCPOA talks: Iran

Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani said on Friday the lifting of US sanctions on the Islamic Republic will be the main topic of upcoming talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

“The key issue is the removal of illegal sanctions and the return of the United States to the JCPOA is the next issue,” Baqeri Kani said, using the official name of the nuclear pact, IRNA reported.

Baqeri Kani, who is also Iran’s deputy foreign minister, made the comment after arriving in the Spanish capital Madrid, the last stop of his European tour that took him to Germany, France and Britain.

The trio, parties to the JCPOA along with Russia and China, have held six round of talks with Iran since April in order to revitalize the tattered accord by bringing the US back to compliance three years after former president Donald Trump walked out of it and reimposed and reinforced sanctions in Tehran in breach of the pact.

A new round of negotiations will recommence in Vienna on November 29.

In Madrid, Baqeri Kani will meet Enrique Mora, the European Union’s political director coordinating talks on JCPOA revival.

US needs to give commitment

Speaking to the Guardian in London, the top negotiator said Iran requires a commitment that the US will not again leave the nuclear deal.

He also said that previous talks in Vienna had failed to reach agreements on a means of verifying that US sanctions had both been lifted and had a practical impact on trade with Iran.

“We need verification, and this remains unresolved. It is one of the issues that is not finalized. It is not enough for the ink to be put on the agreement,” he said. Baqeri Kani did not rule out an independent body being responsible for verification.

Defending his demand that the US give a guarantee that it will comply with the agreement, Baqeri Kani said: “This is about an agreement, not a policy. If there is a peace agreement between two states, it has the effect of a treaty. This is international law. It is not intended that domestic laws of the US can prevail over an international agreement. That is against international law.”

He added that he wanted European powers to give their own guarantees that they will trade with Iran, regardless of the US position, possibly by using a blocking statute nullifying the effect of US sanctions on European firms that trade with Iran.

Baqeri Kani denied that Iran had been stalling on the talks’ resumption in an effort to develop its own nuclear program, saying it was natural for a new government to take time to prepare its negotiating position and to hold bilateral talks with the other parties.

The Vienna talks were suspended in June when Iran held a presidential election that saw Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi wining the vote.

The senior diplomat ruled out discussions on Iran’s missile program being included in the agreement. He said: “The JCPOA has a clear framework and other issues are not relevant. We are not going to negotiate on our defense capabilities or our security.”

“Iran’s relations with other countries did not need a guardian,” he added.

Baqeri Kani repeated calls for all US sanctions linked to the nuclear deal to be lifted. “We are just saying that in accordance with the JCPOA the sanctions should be lifted. We did a deal, and our view is that it should be implemented.”

“Any sanctions in breach of the JCPOA imposed by president Obama and president Trump have to be lifted. That is the agreement set out in the JCPOA.”

Asked if he was requiring the Vienna talks to go back to the start, he said: “What is important is not from where we start; what is important is that we achieve a deal that has practical results for the parties”.

Revision of Iran sanctions policy

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the United States needs to revise its policy of sanctions against Iran so as to help revive the JCPOA.

“The utmost must be done so that the negotiations ensure the restoration of what’s known as the ‘factory settings’ of the JCPOA,” Ryabkov said on Thursday, according to TASS.

“Political will is now required. From the US side, it is important to prove and demonstrate in practice that the sanctions policy, which has been carried out over the recent years is being reviewed and the Iranian side is given the opportunity to reap those economic advantages that are included in the package of agreements that lies at the heart of the JCPOA,” the Russian diplomat said.

Ryabkov reiterated that the nuclear accord must be restored in its original form.

He further said that Iran should also carry out a number of activities that would ensure there is no deviation from the nuclear deal’s parameters.

Source: Iran Daily