Former British ministers proposed taking more stringent measures towards Iran in the new draft of the Iranian nuclear deal, while the chief Iranian negotiator arrived in Muscat for talks, as part of a move to make indirect negotiations with Washington a success, aimed at reviving the 2015 agreement.
Today, Thursday, a session will be held in the British Parliament, to discuss the warnings of 3 former British ministers who said that the Iran nuclear deal, which the United Kingdom plans to sign, could destabilize the Middle East.
The three ministers presented proposals that include implementing a stricter regime to monitor Iran's nuclear activity, re-imposing sanctions and tightening the economic noose on Tehran until it is ready to accept serious proposals, and for Britain to ban the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and designate it as a terrorist organization, as the United States did.
This move comes as the debate continues between Tehran and Washington over the mutual return of the nuclear agreement, after the two sides failed to make progress in the last indirect negotiation rounds that were held in Doha a week ago.
It also comes in light of another quarrel between Iran and Britain, after Tehran announced yesterday, Wednesday, the detention of foreigners and a number of diplomats - including the deputy head of the British diplomatic mission - on charges of spying.
The British Foreign Office said that Iranian TV reports that a British official had been detained on spying charges were completely untrue.
Conversations in Muscat
Meanwhile, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri arrived Thursday in Muscat for talks with Omani officials, the Iranian news agency reported.
Baqeri's visit to the Sultanate of Oman comes after phone talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Omani counterpart Badr al-Busaidi on efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement. It also comes after discussions that Baqeri held in Moscow with Russian officials.
In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov affirmed his country's readiness to move forward with its role in implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, after resuming the Iranian nuclear agreement with its original parameters.
In a press statement, Ryabkov said that he discussed with his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri in Moscow last weekend the situation regarding the resumption of the Iranian nuclear program.
He added that Iran is ready to immediately return to full implementation of the JCPOA once a final agreement with the United States is reached and recent problems are resolved.
Washington accused Tehran of making new demands during the recent negotiations, but Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian yesterday denied that his country had made any demands outside the nuclear agreement.
At a press conference after talks with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar in Tehran, Abdullahian demanded guarantees to benefit from all economic benefits in any future agreement.
Iran's National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani also said on Wednesday that his country has engaged in nuclear negotiations in order to reach a strong, lasting and trustworthy agreement, as he put it.
As for the Qatari foreign minister, after meeting his Iranian counterpart, he affirmed that his country supports any nuclear negotiations in order to reach a just agreement that takes into account the concerns of all parties.
US sanctions
On Wednesday, the US Treasury announced the imposition of new sanctions on an international network of entities and individuals linked to the Iranian oil sector.
The ministry said that the network worked through front companies in the Gulf to facilitate the delivery and sale of Iranian oil and petrochemical products worth hundreds of millions of dollars to East Asia.
Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said that while the United States is committed to seeking a joint return to the nuclear deal with Iran, it continues to use all of its powers to impose sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemicals.