Araqchi: Any diversion in Vienna talks will end Iran’s participation
Iran’s top negotiator has warned that Tehran will stop participation in talks with the co-signatories to the 2015 nuclear as soon as the discussions underway in the Austrian capital, Vienna, stray from the right path and move toward excessive demands and killing time.
According to Press TV, speaking after the latest round of the talks in Vienna on Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the discussions are “progressive” despite “the existing difficulties” facing the diplomatic process aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
He reiterated Iran’s position on the future of the agreement and said the delegation to the talks, headed by Araqchi, will stop the negotiations if they move toward “excessive demands, wasting time and irrational bargaining.”
Earlier, representatives from the parties to the JCPOA wrapped another round of talks in Vienna, which focused on the outcome of the previous sessions and consultations between two expert-level working groups formed to facilitate the negotiations.
On behalf of the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, the session was chaired by Deputy Secretary-General and Political Director of European External Action Service Enrique Mora.
Participants in the Tuesday session discussed the latest developments surrounding technical talks, preliminary drafts and ways to continue the negotiations.
They agreed to add another working group to the two ones formed earlier to make practical arrangements required for Washington’s return to the JCPOA and the lifting of its sanctions against Tehran.
The two expert-level working groups have been discussing the sanctions Washington might remove as well as the reversal of Tehran’s retaliatory commitment reductions, and reporting their conclusions to the JCPOA Joint Commission.
The diplomats also agreed to proceed with the technical and expert-level talks next week after holding consultations with their own capitals.
The diplomatic process began in Vienne on April 6 aimed at ending the dispute over the JCPOA.
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