Vienna talks not over, US must make difficult political decision: Iran FM

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the Vienna talks on the removal of anti-Iran sanctions and revival of the 2015 landmark deal have not reached a conclusion yet and it is time for the United States to make its difficult decision.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a Monday hearing before the Iranian Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy.

During the hearing, the Iranian foreign minister first explained about the efforts made by the incumbent Iranian administration and the negotiating team to clinch a deal through the ongoing talks in the Austrian capital.

“The negotiations are not over yet and it is time for the United States to make difficult political decisions, but it has not made such decisions yet,” Iran’s top diplomat said.

In a Saturday phone call, the Iranian foreign minister told European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that the Islamic Republic seeks a good agreement through the ongoing talks in the Austrian capital, but is determined not to cross its red lines.

During the Monday meeting, the Iranian lawmakers also stressed the importance of preserving the Islamic Republic's red lines on national interests in the course of the negotiations, including removing sanctions and obtaining the necessary guarantees and the required opportunity for accurate verification.

They emphasized that the Islamic Republic does not accept any deadline in securing its national interests and said, "The real deadline for the Iranian nation is the interests of the Iranian nation and the removal of obstacles in the way of Iran's foreign trade."

The Iranian legislators added that they are concerned about safeguarding the country's nuclear capabilities, securing complete removal of sanctions and improving people's livelihood, saying they have prioritized economic benefit of the Iranian nation from the JCPOA through the removal of sanctions.

More than 200 Iranian lawmakers issued a joint statement earlier this month, calling on the incumbent administration not to back down from its red lines and national interests in the course of the Vienna negotiations.

“We must learn from the past and set the Iranian nation’s interest as a red line, and do not commit ourselves to any agreement unless necessary guarantees have been received,” the statement read.

Iran lead negotiator, EU official meet in Vienna

Meanwhile, Iran's lead negotiator to the Vienna talks Ali Bagheri Kani and Enrique Mora, the European Union’s deputy foreign policy chief and head of the JCPOA Joint Commission, held a meeting in Vienna on Monday.

Bagheri Kani returned to Vienna earlier in the day to continue the eighth round of talks with senior representatives of the five remaining parties to the JCPOA on resolving the remaining issues pertaining to the agreement's revival. He flew to Tehran last week to hold consultations and receive necessary directives.

During its last session, Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) discussed the outcomes of the latest round of the Vienna talks, stressing the importance of ensuring the Islamic Republic's legal and rational demands based on the country's redlines, Nournews, a website close to the council reported on Sunday.

It added that the council has also stressed "the need to quickly resolve the remaining issues that put the negotiations on the border between agreement and dead end," while emphasizing that the acceptance of any agreement depends on settlement of the outstanding issues.

MG