Homa Lezgee


Press TV, Vienna

The signatories of the Iran nuclear deal end another Joint Commission meeting in Vienna with talks expected to continue via technical and legal teams. Iran’s lead negotiator Abbas Araqchi says Tehran is not looking for protracted talks and will end negotiations if no progress is made.

Political directors decide to mandate two working groups to restart technical discussions and come up with concrete lists of sanctions that need to lifted by the US and nuclear measures that need to be taken by Iran in order for both sides to come back to full compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the JCPOA. 

Participants agreed that preparing the list of US sanctions is of particular importance since nothing can move forward without it. 

Iran’s lead negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called the meeting serious and challenging, coming after an attack on Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility and Tehran’s decision to increase the level of enrichment from 20 to 60 percent.

Iran says it will only come back to full compliance after the US lifts all sanctions and the Islamic Republic carries out a verification process, a demand that according to media reports up until now has met US resistance. 

For the time being, the political directors will monitor technical discussions, and decide whether the talks need to be extended day by day or whether they need to stop talking and go back home.