No direct communication between Tehran-Washington: Source to IRNA

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Apr 2024 20:37

An informed source has stated that there are no direct negotiations between Iran and the United States, despite speculation regarding recent exchanges of messages as potential signs of direct communication between Tehran and Washington.

A passerby, taking on his cellphone, walks past a banner showing missiles being launched from an Iranian map in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 19, 2024 (AP)

IRNA reported on Sunday, citing an informed source, that currently, no communication is taking place between Tehran and Washington amid recent reports alleging that exchanges had occurred.

"There are no direct negotiations between Iran and the United States, and the exchange of messages is only within the defined framework," the source told IRNA on condition of anonymity.

The source mentioned that Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani is responsible for negotiations with the signatories of the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The purpose of these negotiations is to lift US sanctions on Iran.

Under President Donald Trump, the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reinstated the sanctions that the agreement had previously lifted. Following the later, Iran began scaling back its commitments that were stipulated in the accord.

Discussions aimed at salvaging the nuclear deal commenced in Vienna in April 2021, with the goal of assessing the sincerity of the Joe Biden administration's desire to rejoin the agreement.

However, the negotiations hit a standstill as the US declined to lift the sanctions, which constituted a crucial demand from Iran during the talks.

Another line of contention has been Iran's frozen assets, which are estimated to amount from tens of billions to over a hundred billion dollars.

Since 1980, Iran has been pushing for the US, the EU, and South Korea to return all frozen assets, but Tehran's requests have largely gone unheeded.

Some of the seized assets have been sold to third parties, while many have been allocated to pro-Shah entities.

After the US and Iran concluded a prisoner exchange deal in September 2023, the US agreed to unlock $6 billion of frozen assets in South Korea.

However, on December 1, 2023, the House passed a bill to permanently refreeze Iran's $6 billion in funds, under the pretext that Iran allegedly provided assistance to the Palestinian resistance in their October 7 operations, claims that Iran has denied.