Washington affirms its "openness" to hold direct talks with Tehran

A new meeting on Iran's nuclear file next week in Vienna

Abbas Araghchi (center) attends a hypothetical meeting with the Joint Committee on Iran's nuclear program.

A.F.B.

International powers and Iran agreed yesterday to hold talks next week in Vienna to discuss the nuclear deal, while mediators are scheduled to hold "separate contacts" with the United States, according to what the European Union reported, and at a time when Washington has shown its openness to holding direct talks with Tehran, the latter confirmed that it would not conduct negotiations with America at any level.

In detail, a statement issued after a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Iranian Nuclear Agreement said that the participants would meet in Vienna "to clearly define the procedures for lifting sanctions and implementing the nuclear agreement, including by holding meetings of relevant expert groups."

He added that the coordinating parties "will intensify separate contacts in Vienna with all those involved in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the official designation of the nuclear agreement) and the United States."

The announcement followed a video conference that brought together the signatories of the 2015 agreement, in light of efforts to persuade Washington to rejoin the agreement from which former US President Donald Trump withdrew.

The meeting was held at the level of political assistants and directors of the foreign ministries of Iran and the group (4 + 1), headed by the political director of the European Union's foreign service Enrique Mora, according to the Iranian news agency (IRNA).

Enrique Mora, who chaired the talks, given the commission's role as coordinator, described yesterday's hypothetical meeting as "positive", but warned that much more needed to be done to revive the agreement.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said that the meeting will take place on Tuesday, and insisted that the goal is to "quickly finalize (steps) the lifting of nuclear sanctions and measures in order to coordinate the cancellation of all sanctions, to be followed by Iran's suspension of remedial measures."

He wrote on Twitter: “No Iranian-American meeting.

It is not necessary ».

Earlier, an EU official said that the talks between Iran, the United States and world powers would seek to draw up two lists to negotiate the sanctions that Washington could lift, and the nuclear obligations that Tehran must fulfill.

He added that all parties hope to reach an agreement within two months.

In turn, the European Union said that it will hold meetings with all the parties to the Iran nuclear deal, and with the United States, in Vienna, next Tuesday.

"The participants agreed to resume this session of the Joint Commission in Vienna, next week, in order to clearly define the lifting of sanctions and the implementation of nuclear measures, including through holding meetings of the relevant expert groups," said the bloc, which coordinates the talks on the nuclear deal.

The US President, John Biden, pledged to rejoin the agreement, on the condition that Iran respects the commitments it abandoned in response to Trump's withdrawal.

The United States confirmed yesterday that it will participate in a meeting next week in Vienna to discuss the Iranian nuclear agreement, stressing that it is "open" to holding "direct" talks with Tehran.

"We do not currently expect direct talks between the United States and Iran to take place as part of this process, but the United States is open to the matter," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

"We do not expect to achieve a breakthrough immediately, as we will have difficult talks in front of us, but we believe that this is a useful step forward," he added.

But Tehran says that Washington should lift the international sanctions that Trump re-imposed before it takes any steps to return to the track, while refusing to hold any direct negotiations with the US side.

The Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, announced that the next meeting of the Joint Committee for the Nuclear Agreement (4 + 1) in Vienna will be held with the participation of the current members only, stressing that his country will not conduct negotiations with America at any level.

This came within Araghi's statements to reporters, commenting on news that America will attend the next meeting of the Joint Committee for the Nuclear Agreement (4 + 1) in Vienna.

The committee includes officials from Iran, China, France, Britain, Russia and Germany.

Araghchi said that America will not attend any meeting that Iran will attend, adding that the matter is final.

The "Wall Street Journal" reported that America will be present in Vienna next Tuesday, coinciding with the meeting of the Joint Committee of the Nuclear Agreement, but direct negotiations will not take place with Iran.

Araghchi said: “If all the parties to the nuclear agreement want to conduct bilateral or multilateral consultations with America about the measures that America must take, whether in Vienna or anywhere else, then it is up to them, and of course such a matter has already happened. ».

He stressed that "the Iranian delegation will not conduct any negotiations with the American delegation."

On the other hand, Russia's permanent representative to international institutions in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, confirmed through his Twitter account that the meeting had ended, indicating that the consultations between representatives of Iran and the 4 + 1 countries were serious, and that they would continue. 

- The European Union will hold meetings with all the parties that signed the Iranian nuclear deal and with America in Vienna next Tuesday.

German welcomes the negotiations within the framework of the nuclear agreement

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas welcomed the negotiations within the framework of the nuclear deal with Iran.

Maas said in a statement issued by the German Foreign Ministry yesterday in Berlin: “It is good for all concerned actors to meet in Vienna, starting next week, to work on the full implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran once again.

Together with our partners in the (E3) group, France and Britain, we have worked intensively over the past few weeks on this goal.

"We do not have time to waste," Maas added in the statement.

"Reaching a fully respected agreement would be an added benefit of security for the entire region, and the best basis for talks on other important issues related to regional stability."

Berlin - dpa

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