Iranian FM: US needs to be realistic to achieve nuclear deal

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 Jul 15:35

The Iranian Foreign Minister urges the US to take the initiative and focus on common grounds to reach a nuclear agreement.

Iran is committed to forging a solid and long-lasting agreement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stressed the need for the United States to cease making overbearing demands during negotiations aimed at renewing the 2015 nuclear agreement and eliminating unilateral sanctions against Tehran during a phone call with his Qatari counterpart on Thursday.

The Iranian FM said a realistic approach is compulsory for finding a solution to the differences and reaching a deal. For his part, the Foreign Minister of Qatar praised Iran's reasoned approach to the issue.

According to Iranian authorities, the US has the initiative here, and President Joe Biden should reassure Tehran that it won't make the same mistakes Donald Trump did in the past.

The parties are waiting for Washington to make the required political steps to resurrect the deal, according to Nasser Kanaani, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, who was speaking at a weekly press conference on Wednesday in Tehran.

"The way is paved for reaching the agreement, but the major issue is about the US which should make an independent, firm, and unbiased decision," adding that “if America looked at the matter through the prism of America’s national interests, not the Zionist regime’s," Kanaani insisted, then a deal would conceivable in the short-term.

Furthermore, in an interview for state television on Thursday night, the Iranian FM argued that "we do not want to be stung twice from the same spot. In order to enjoy the full economic benefits of the JCPOA, the Americans must accept some commitments and guarantees," adding that "we are now at a point where we have a text ready in front of us; we agree with all parties on 95% of its content."

In a significant statement, Amir-Abdollahian argued that Iran is "serious about reaching a good, strong and lasting agreement but we do not want an agreement at any price."

Since April of last year, Iran and the five other signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the nuclear agreement, have undertaken multiple rounds of talks in Vienna, Austria, to resurrect the deal after it was unilaterally terminated by Trump in May 2018.

In quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are being enforced to this day by the Biden administration, even though it has repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.

Enrique Mora, the EU's second-in-command for foreign policy, organized covert talks between Iran and the US in Doha, Qatar, in late June with the goal of addressing the issues impeding the renewal of the 2015 accord.

However, the European Union announced that the indirect talks between Iran and the United States, which took place over two days in Doha, did not achieve the expected progress.

Enrique Mora said there was no progress like the EU team had hoped for.

Amir-Abdollahian criticized Washington for the breakdown of the Doha discussions at a joint press conference with Qatari FM in Tehran early in July, and he denied the US assertion that Iran's negotiators had presented demands that were unrelated to the nuclear deal.

The fundamental reason for the drawn-out negotiations, he stated, is the US refusal to offer the necessary safeguards for Iran's sustained economic interests under the deal.