In Vienna, Iran gives JCPOA parties draft documents on sanctions removal, nuclear steps

As negotiations in Vienna enter a fourth day, Iran says it has provided the five parties to the 2015 nuclear deal with draft documents detailing its proposals and positions on the removal of sanctions imposed by the United States after leaving the agreement and the nuclear steps Tehran has taken in response. 

Speaking to Press TV’s correspondent in the Austrian capital on Thursday, Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Baqeri-Kani said two completed drafts had been submitted to the P4+1 — France, Britain, Germany, Russia, and China — concerning the removal of the United States’ sanctions and Tehran’s nuclear commitments under the agreement, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The content of the drafts, he added, include all of proposals and positions of the Iranian negotiating team.

He added that Iran was now waiting to hear from the other side to see whether they were ready to put the Iran-drafted documents to discussion.

“Naturally, the other side should study the documents and prepare for serious negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the drafts submitted to them,” he said, expressing hope that the other parties will be able to “reach a  conclusion in the shortest time possible.” 

He briefed reporters on the bilateral and multilateral meetings held so far in Vienna and the talks scheduled to be held later on Thursday.

“In these meetings, we expressed our views on the central topics in this round of negotiations, particularly the issue of removing the unlawful and cruel sanctions and shared with them the criteria and indexes that were needed to explain our positions,” he said.

Efforts were made at the meetings to eliminate the ambiguities and answer the questions raised by the other party regarding Iran’s views, he added.

Iran warns parties against outside influence

The lead negotiator also warned the other negotiating teams not to allow "outside players" to disrupt the negotiations.

Baqeri-Kani explained that certain players were making attempts to throw a wrench in the talks, either directly or indirectly, to thwart an agreement among the JCPOA signatories.

“In the meeting with representatives of different P4+1 parties, I warned that efforts should be made to prevent the views and approach of outside players from negatively affecting the process of the talks,” he added.

Israeli regime trying to poison Vienna talks through lies: Iran

Iran warns that the Israeli regime is trying to come in the way of potential progress in ongoing talks in Vienna.

Envoys from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries began on Monday the seventh round of the talks in the Austrian capital aimed at reviving the JCPOA.

Former US president Donald Trump left the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had lifted. He also placed additional sanctions on Iran under other pretexts not related to the nuclear case as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.

Following a year of strategic patience, Iran decided to let go of some of the restrictions on its nuclear energy program, resorting to its legal rights under the JCPOA, which grants a party the right to suspend its contractual commitments in case of a non-performance by the other side.

The US administration of President Joe Biden had said it is willing to compensate for Trump’s mistake and rejoin the deal, but it has retained the sanctions as leverage.

Iran says it won’t settle for anything less than the removal of all US bans in a verifiable manner. It also wants guarantees that the US would not abandon the agreement again.

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