Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that he would soon present a "constructive" action plan on the nuclear deal. Meanwhile, an advisor to the Iraqi government said that Washington had allowed Iran to use part of its funds in Iraq for humanitarian and civilian purposes.
Tehran is supposed to present the said action plan "through the appropriate diplomatic channels," according to Zarif's tweet.
The Iranian foreign minister added, "It is necessary to implement the nuclear obligations before any nuclear meetings."
Zarif's comments apparently came in response to an interview of the Secretary of the Expediency Council in Iran, Mohsen Rezaei, with the British Financial Times, in which he said that his country will return to the nuclear negotiations if Washington and European countries provide guarantees to lift sanctions on Iran within a year.
Various Iranian positions
"The Iranian political system is vital and effective, and officials express their diverse opinions, but these views should not be confused with state policy. As the Iranian foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, I will soon present our constructive and accurate action plan through appropriate diplomatic channels," Zarif said.
In the same context, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Rezaei’s statements do not reflect Tehran's official positions.
These statements come amid signs of stopping the escalation in the nuclear file, as Britain, France and Germany, with the support of the United States, withdrew a draft resolution condemning Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency to suspend its work with the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Informal conversations
Reuters quoted a French diplomatic source and another European source as saying on Thursday that Iran had made encouraging signals in the past days to start informal talks, after the European trio decided to withdraw the draft conviction.
Tehran had previously refused to participate in a dialogue with the United States, mediated by the European Union, to discuss reviving the nuclear agreement concluded between the Iranian side and the P5 + 1 group in 2015.
Iran insists that Washington take the first step by lifting sanctions and returning to the agreement from which the previous US administration withdrew in 2018, before Tehran backtracks on the steps it has taken to dissolve some of its obligations.
The US State Department said today that Washington is ready to accept the European Union’s invitation to start a diplomatic path with Iran within the framework of the 5 + 1 group.
Balances in Iraq
On the other hand, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, the economic advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, told Al-Jazeera that the American side allowed Iran to use part of its funds in Iraq for humanitarian and civil purposes.
Saleh explained that Iran has money in Iraq that is the price of what it exports to it in terms of gas and electricity, and added that these rights are known to all parties, including the American side.
Government sources denied the release of the Iranian funds frozen in the Central Bank of Iraq, but said that the Americans may release part of those funds for the purpose of purchasing medicines for Iran via Iraq.
The sources indicated that Iraq could contract with international companies in order to buy medicines for Iran in light of the US sanctions, but it was likely that Tehran would not agree.