'Sense of urgency' as Iran nuclear talks resume in Vienna
Since talks broke off in June, “the Iranian nuclear program has advanced,” and the US has continued to impose sanctions on Iran, EU coordinator Enrique Mora said as talks resumed in Vienna Nov. 29.
EU Political Director Enrique Mora: “There is…a sense of urgency in bringing JCPOA back to life.”
Mora: “The new Iranian delegation recognizes the work we have done over the past six rounds and the fact that we will be building on that work to go ahead.”
“The key question remains whether they are ultimately treating this round of negotiations as the seventh round, or the first round of a new series of negotiations. I don’t think we have the answer to the question yet,” Crisis Group’s Ali Vaez
US Senior Administration official: “We will not comment on intelligence matters. But it's no secret that the former administration's decision to abandon the JCPOA led to a dramatic and unprecedented acceleration of Iran's nuclear program.”
SAO: “The United States is committed to diplomacy as the path back to Iran's nuclear compliance…but we are also prepared to pursue other options should diplomacy fail.”
International talks on trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal resumed today in Vienna after a five-month hiatus during which Iran’s nuclear program has further advanced and relations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have grown more strained.
As diplomats expected, the two hour Joint Commission meeting of political directors from the European Union, Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran was something of a long slog, during which the new Iranian negotiating team representing the more hardline, western-skeptic Ebrahim Raisi administration stressed that its priority was the lifting of sanctions re-imposed after then US President Trump quit the deal in 2018.
“More or less as expected,” a European diplomat, speaking not for attribution, told Diplomatic about the first plenary meeting with the new Iranian negotiating team, led by Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani.
The United States delegation, led by US Iran envoy Rob Malley, is in Vienna consulting with the other parties, but has not been part of the Joint Commission overseeing the implementation of the nuclear pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), since Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the deal three years ago. Iran has refused to hold face to face talks with the US until it returns to the pact.
“We have taken stock of the difficult circumstances of the JCPOA,” the European Union coordinator of the talks Enrique Mora told reporters after the conclusion of the meeting tonight outside Vienna’s striking Coburg Palace hotel, where the current negotiations are being held, and where the Iran nuclear pact was finally reached after years of negotiations in 2015.
“Over the recent months, the Iranian nuclear program has advanced,” More continued. “And at the same time, the United States are imposing the same sanctions.”
“There is…a sense of urgency in bringing JCPOA back to life,” Mora said. “There is a sense of urgency in putting an end to the suffering of the Iranian people. There is a sense of urgency to again be putting the Iranian nuclear program under the transparent monitoring of the international community.”
Mora said the parties had agreed on a work plan over the next few days, under which the working group on sanctions lifting will meet tomorrow (Nov. 30), and the working group on Iran’s nuclear commitments will meet the following day (Dec. 1). Iran’s lead negotiator described that sequencing as a diplomatic achievement, reflecting Iran’s insistence the talks should first focus on sanctions relief.
“This is an achievement that the 4+1 accepted Iran’s demand in addressing sanctions issue first and then the other issues,” Bagheri Kani told Iranian reporters following the meeting tonight. The Iranian delegation, which includes 40 people—during a new Austrian covid lockdown, is staying at Vienna’s Intercontinental Hotel.
Mora used somewhat ambiguous language in response to a question whether the Iranians had agreed to pick up the talks where they left off after six previous rounds broke off in June, saying the Iranians recognized the talks should “build on” the previous work, while incorporating the new Iranian administration’s “political sensibilities,” and not go back to square one, when the talks on trying to revive the deal resumed last April.
“The Iranian delegation represents a new administration in Tehran with new…political sensibilities,” Mora said. “But they have accepted that the work done over the six first rounds is a good basis to build our work ahead, so no point in going back to… April. No, we will be building on the work done in the six previous rounds, and at the same time we will be of course incorporating the new political sensibilities of the new Iranian administration.”
The lead Russian and Chinese negotiators held talks with the US/Malley delegation after the Joint Commission meeting today, Russian Ambassador to the IAEA Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on Twitter.
Meantime, the Biden administration downplayed a report that the Israelis had allegedly briefed the US and other countries in recent weeks that it assesses Iran may be taking steps to do more advanced uranium enrichment, and said Iran’s expanding nuclear actions reenforce its assessment that the Trump administration’s decision to leave the deal was a mistake, and its approach to try to revive a diplomatic solution.
“We will not comment on intelligence matters,” a U.S. Senior Administration Official, speaking not for attribution, told Diplomatic today by email in response to a query about the report. “But it's no secret that the former administration's decision to abandon the JCPOA led to a dramatic and unprecedented acceleration of Iran's nuclear program. This includes advanced enrichment activities, as recently confirmed again by the IAEA.
“The United States is committed to diplomacy as the path back to Iran's nuclear compliance, in coordination with our P5+1 partners and consultation with Israel and regional partners,” the official continued. “But we are also prepared to pursue other options should diplomacy fail."
Also today, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi met with French President Emmanuel Macron. Also today, Macron held a one hour call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian media reported.
“I’ve also held talks with US President Biden… and we’re determined to continue the talks until reaching a conclusion,” Macron reportedly told Raisi, according to Iranian journalist Abas Aslani.
A diplomat involved in pre-talks consultations in Vienna yesterday said they were going not bad, but he expected the talks this week to be hard.
“The talks are expected to be very difficult,” the negotiator, speaking not for attribution, told Diplomatic. “We need somebody to prevent their collapse if emotions prevail.”
Ali Vaez, director of the Iran program at the International Crisis Group, said it was not surprising that the resumed talks today would be a slog and involve the new Iranian negotiating team asserting its worldview and positions.
“Diplomatic momentum has been lost, so it would take some time for…these negotiations to become substantive again,” Vaez told Diplomatic. “So my sense is obviously the new Iranian negotiating team needed to describe its worldview and its approach and that was always expected to be accompanied with a review of the long list of grievances of the Iranian side.”
“But the key question remains whether they are ultimately treating this round of negotiations as the seventh round, or the first round of a new series of negotiations,” Vaez continued. “I don’t think we have the answer to the question yet.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a call with the UN Secretary General today, staked out a somewhat middle ground on the issue.
“We don’t ignore those talks, but as the new government we reserve the right to review and discuss the disputed issues with our own considerations,” Amir Abdollahian told the UN’s Antonio Guterres, according to Iranian journalist Abas Aslani.
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