P4+1 firm determination, practical readiness to remove sanctions key to successful talks in Vienna: Iran top negotiator
Iran’s top negotiator says the forthcoming talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna will succeed if the P4+1 group of countries have a “firm determination” and stand “practically” ready to bring about a removal of the United States’ sanctions against Iran.
Ali Baqeri-Kani, who serves as Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, made the remarks in a tweet on Thursday, following meetings with resident ambassadors in Tehran, ambassadors of the Persian Gulf states and ambassadors of Mediterranean and East European countries on Wednesday.
Baqeri-Kani said following those meetings, “I stated that success of the future talks depends on other side’s ‘firm determination’ & ‘practical readiness’ to ‘remove sanctions.’”
Iran, Russia diplomats discuss upcoming events
Meanwhile, Russia’s lead negotiator at the Vienna talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, said in a post on his Twitter on Wednesday that he has held talks with Iran’s Chargé d'affaires to International Organizations in Vienna Reza Ghaebi.
He added that the two sides discussed a range of “important” issues, including a planned visit by Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi to Iran next week, session of the IAEA’s Board of Governors and the resumption of the Vienna talks.
The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, said the UN nuclear agency’s chief would arrive in Tehran on Monday.
He added that Grossi would hold talks with the Iranian foreign minister and the AEOI Head Mohammad Eslami on Tuesday, noting that the visit would take place in line with cooperation between Iran and the IAEA.
Grossi’s trip comes just before next week’s meeting of the 35-nation Board of Governors.
The IAEA chief paid a one-day visit to Tehran in September and held talks with the AEOI head.
At a joint press conference after the meeting, Eslami described the negotiations centering on technical issues as “constructive” and said “confidence-building” is what matters for Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog.
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