Washington provided Tehran with examples of sanctions that the American side does not plan to lift, as well as those restrictions that the United States is ready to lift in order to return to the JCPOA.

This was reported in the State Department.

“We have presented to Iran a number of examples of sanctions that, in our opinion, we will need to lift in order to return to compliance with (JCPOA. -

RT

), as well as sanctions that we believe we do not need to lift and which, as part of the return to We will not cancel compliance with the JCPOA, ”a senior American diplomat said at a special briefing.

According to him, the United States authorities "have to study all the sanctions in order to verify the validity of their introduction."

“There is also a third category: these are not easy cases - because of the nature of the process itself, but also because the Trump administration deliberately and emphatically introduced sanctions, labeling“ terrorism ”and others, although this was done solely with the aim of making a return to compliance with the JCPOA impossible or embarrassing.

So it made the task more difficult, ”the State Department official explained.

At the same time, the diplomat noted that the sequence of actions by the US and Iran in the framework of the restoration of the nuclear deal "has not yet been discussed."

“However, we can say that the option in which the US will do everything in the beginning and Iran will do nothing is unacceptable.

We have made this clear to Iran.

In addition, we are open to various options for the sequence of actions that meet our interests, namely, presuppose steps by both sides to comply with the conditions so that there is no such thing that we must do everything in full before Iran starts to act, ”the official said. State Department.

He also stressed that the United States intends to "continue to put pressure on Iran and oppose those actions in the region that are destabilizing and run counter to" American interests or the interests of US partners.

It is worth recalling that on April 6, the head of the press service of the State Department, Ned Price, announced the readiness of the United States to lift only those unilateral restrictions on Iran, "which run counter to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action."

  • US State Department

  • Reuters

  • © Joshua Roberts

Price also stressed that the American side should "weed out the maximalist demands that the US should do everything first and only then wait for a response from Iran."

“It seems to me that such a proposal can hardly be called viable,” he said.

Negotiating positions

We will remind, negotiations on the return of the United States to the nuclear deal and the possible lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions began in April.

Discussions are being conducted on the basis of meetings of the Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Moreover, Iran refused a direct dialogue with the United States: the parties contact through international mediators.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi said at the first summit that the Islamic Republic is "fully prepared to stop nuclear corrective measures and return to full compliance with the JCPOA" after making sure that US sanctions have been "lifted."

At the end of this round of negotiations, Arakchi said that they were "constructive."

At the same time, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to international organizations in Vienna, also spoke about the transition of the parties “from general words about the importance of restoring the JCPOA to concrete work”.

He predicted that the negotiation process "will be very difficult", but did not rule out that in the end "the result may be positive."

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, at the meeting of the Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan on April 9, "progress was noted and the focus on further forward movement to resolve the issues that had accumulated after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal was confirmed."

On April 12, Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on his Twitter about the need for greater clarity regarding the lifting of anti-Iranian US sanctions to ensure "further progress in restoring the JCPOA."

According to him, this is "a basic prerequisite for success."

Subsequently, the Russian diplomat also said that at a meeting on April 20, the Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action "took note with satisfaction of the progress in the negotiations on the restoration of the Iranian nuclear deal."

According to him, the commission "established a third expert group, which will coordinate the sequence of steps leading to the full restoration" of the JCPOA.

Taking into account the progress made in the negotiations in Vienna, the Joint Commission on the #JCPOA has established a third expert group, which will agree on a sequence of steps leading to the full restoration of the Iranian nuclear deal.

pic.twitter.com/EWinlNggD9

- Mikhail Ulyanov (@Amb_Ulyanov) April 20, 2021

"We took the path of rapprochement"

According to experts, the position of the United States, according to which Washington intends to keep part of the anti-Iranian sanctions, "clearly will not contribute to the solution of problems under the JCPOA."

“It was the United States that left the nuclear deal unilaterally, Iran did not withdraw from the agreement.

At the same time, the theses of the American side, voiced under Donald Trump, regarding the fact that the republic allegedly violates the terms of the JCPOA, were not confirmed by the IAEA.

Therefore, if the Americans want to return to the treaty, they must do so without setting additional conditions, "said Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies at the Institute of the USA and Canada, RAS, in a conversation with RT.

He predicted that Iran is likely to "predictably reject this US approach and continue to develop its nuclear program."

“The success of the negotiations within the framework of the meetings of the commissions on the JCPOA will directly depend on Washington's readiness to fulfill its part of the deal.

In addition, a significant role will be played by whether the current American administration will be able to pursue a consistent foreign policy course in the Iranian direction, ”the analyst says.

  • Hotel in Vienna, where the meetings of the JCPOA Commission are held

  • Reuters

  • © Leonhard Foeger

Expert on the Middle East, professor at Moscow State University Alexander Vavilov, in turn, suggests that the United States does not intend to "lay on the negotiating table at once all the concessions that they are ready to make in order to return to the JCPOA."

“We are talking about the negotiating practice of the American side, which is aimed at maximizing the benefits for the United States based on the results of the meetings of the JCPOA Commission.

However, now Washington is not in a position to blackmail partners.

The fact is that the new administration of the White House has already admitted that the policy of maximum pressure on Iran, which was carried out by the previous authorities, turned out to be erroneous and ineffective and only led to an aggravation of the situation.

And now, in order to resolve this issue, the parties will need to spend a lot of time and effort, ”he said in a conversation with RT.

From his point of view, in the current situation, the United States will have to make serious concessions.

“Within the framework of the negotiations on the JCPOA, mutual trade will be conducted on the principle“ you - us, we - you ”until the parties come to the denominator that suits everyone.

At the same time, Tehran continues to insist on the lifting of all sanctions imposed on it.

And he has the right to do so, since these measures are illegal, ”Vavilov said.

From his point of view, despite the significant differences in the positions of the parties on lifting the sanctions restrictions on Iran, the start of negotiations can be regarded as a positive signal.

“The parties have embarked on the path of rapprochement.

Representatives of the United States and Iran, as well as other participants in the transaction, say that the negotiations are proceeding constructively and quite optimistically.

This gives reason to believe that the difference in the positions of Tehran and Washington will gradually decrease, ”the expert concluded.