Iran announced today, Monday, that its foreign minister will go to Moscow to discuss developments in the negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement, days after they were halted against the backdrop of Russia's request for US guarantees related to the war on Ukraine. Tehran confirmed that the ball is now in Washington's court.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian will visit the Russian capital tomorrow, to discuss the nuclear file and the war in Ukraine with his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

Khatibzadeh added - in a press conference today - that work should be done to prevent the spread of war to the rest of Eurasia, because it cannot bear the outbreak of larger and broader wars.

He demanded that Russia's demands for guarantees be discussed within the framework of the work of the joint committee on the nuclear agreement, noting that Russia's positions have been positive so far, and they are confident that these positions will continue.

Khatibzadeh made it clear that the suspension of talks related to the nuclear agreement in Vienna is temporary, and that it does not mean that the talks have reached a dead end.

He added that the ball is now in the court of the United States, and that it must take the necessary political decisions on some of the remaining essential points.

Talks to revive the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 are in danger of collapsing after a last-minute request by Russia forced the West to temporarily halt negotiations for an indefinite period, despite the agreement’s text being largely completed.

Nornews described Abdullahian's visit to Moscow as "a platform for serious, frank and forward-looking talks" between the two countries, which have proven that "they can work together closely, decisively and successfully on complex issues."

"We are now on a break from the nuclear talks, we are not in the stage of declaring an agreement now because there are some important outstanding issues that need to be decided by Washington," Khatibzadeh said.

Qatar's Foreign Minister in Moscow

Khatibzadeh's statements came in conjunction with a visit by his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, to Moscow.

Sheikh Mohammed said that during his visit to Moscow, he discussed with his Russian counterpart the Iranian nuclear talks currently taking place in Vienna.

The Qatari minister's visit follows his call with his Iranian and American counterparts, Anthony Blinken.

In my meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister, I stressed the need to avoid escalation and give voice to wisdom, and our keenness to ensure the safety of civilians, considering that a top priority, in addition to adhering to the well-established principles of international law and the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states, and rejecting and condemning everything that contradicts that.

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— Muhammad bin Abdulrahman (@MBA_AlThani_) March 14, 2022

We will remain in negotiations

For his part, Iranian National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani said that his country will remain in the Vienna negotiations until its interests and demands are achieved, and a strong agreement is reached.

Shamkhani added, in a tweet on Twitter, that all the pillars of government in his country are working to secure and preserve Iran's national interests.

Lavrov had announced that Moscow had requested written guarantees from the United States that sanctions on his country would not include its cooperation with Tehran, after reviving the nuclear agreement.

He added that Moscow wants a written guarantee that the sanctions imposed on it because of the Ukrainian file will not harm, in any way, the right to full free trade, economic and investment cooperation, and military-technical cooperation with Iran.

For its part, Washington stressed that the sanctions imposed on Moscow due to the war in Ukraine are completely different from the nuclear file, and there is no connection between them, while the European side believes that the Russians made a request that cannot be met, and it is outside the nuclear agreement.

The US State Department said last Friday that Washington still believed that a possible agreement to return to the 2015 agreement was close, but said that decisions must be taken by Tehran and Moscow.

A vital role for Russia

In clarifications on the extent to which it is possible to revive the nuclear agreement without Moscow, observers of the negotiations file said that this is theoretically possible, but Russia plays a vital role in the agreement.

Analysts considered that Russia is importing the surplus enriched uranium from Iran, and is helping to reduce the level of enrichment facilities.

They added that if Tehran decides to stop its cooperation, the Western parties will have to find another country to replace Russia, a process that could delay a final agreement significantly.