Tag: Iran Nuclear Deal

US: No conditionality between Iran nuclear deal and IAEA probes

White House said the investigations led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “are not political” and “are not leverage or bargaining chips”, reports Asian Lite News

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested that there should not be any conditionality between a revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the conclusion of watchdog probes.

Addressing the media on Friday, Jean-Pierre made the remarks referring to the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and investigations related to Iran’s obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, reports Xinhua news agency

She said the investigations led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “are not political” and “are not leverage or bargaining chips”.

“We are unbending in our support for the IAEA’s independence… It would be preferable to return to the JCPOA without any open safeguard issues,” the Press Secretary added.

If the US makes the “right decision”, negotiations can be concluded quickly, Mohammad Marandi, an advisor to Iran’s nuclear negotiation team, said on Friday.

“Iran has responded as promised. It’s time for the (US President Joe) Biden team to make a serious decision,” Marandi tweeted hours after Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Tehran had given answers to the Washington on the European Union’s draft of a potential nuclear agreement.

“The submitted text has a constructive approach with the aim of finalizing the negotiations,” Kanaani said in a statement.

The US State Department confirmed they have received Iran’s response through the European Union (EU).

“We are studying it and will respond through the EU, but unfortunately it is not constructive,” a Department spokesman was quoted by some Western media outlets as saying.

“For the US, ‘constructive’ usually means accepting US terms. For Iran, it means a deal that is balanced and protected,” Marandi said.

Iran and the US are indirectly exchanging views about a recent EU proposal aimed at resolving the outstanding issues on the revival of the JCPOA.

Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on the country.

However, former US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.

The talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal began in April 2021 in Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington.

The latest round of the nuclear talks was held in the Austrian capital in early August after a five-month hiatus.

On August 8, the EU put forward a “final text” of the draft decision on reviving the deal.

ALSO READ: N-deal: US disagrees on Iran’s ‘constructive’ response

September 3, 2022
IRAN: N-Talks Resume

The Iranian negotiating team, headed by Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, held a meeting with the Russian delegation on Thursday, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

A new round of talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers began in Vienna on Thursday after a 150-day hiatus, according to Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

The Iranian negotiating team, headed by Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, held a meeting with the Russian delegation led by Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna and chief negotiator to the Vienna talks.

The two sides had “a frank, pragmatic and constructive exchange of views on ways and means of overcoming the last outstanding issues,” Ulyanov tweeted after the meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.

Bagheri Kani also met with Enrique Mora, the European Union chief coordinator for the Iran nuclear talks, and Secretary General of the Austrian Foreign Ministry Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal respectively.

Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of sanctions on the country. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting the latter to drop some of its commitments under the pact.

The talks on reviving the JCPOA began in April 2021 in the Austrian capital of Vienna but were suspended in March this year because of political differences between Tehran and Washington.

‘Not going to be easy’

A European Union (EU) diplomat has expressed a degree of hope that the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran can be resurrected, while also listing several significant stumbling blocks following the resumption of talks in Vienna.

“I think there is a real possibility of an agreement, but it’s not going to be easy,” dpa news agency quoted the diplomat as saying while outlining the remaining areas where no agreement had yet been reached.

Tehran and Washington still had to agree on the technicalities for lifting certain sanctions on Iran, the diplomat said, asking not to be named.

Further outstanding issues include restrictions on the enrichment of uranium, which Iran is currently enriching to a near-weapons-grade purity of 60 per cent.

A further prerequisite for a deal is a return to the comprehensive monitoring of the Iranian nuclear programme by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran and Washington have decided to leave the disputed US classification of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation until a later date.

The current draft also contains guarantees for Tehran should the US withdraw from the agreement again, the diplomat said, following Washington’s unilateral exit from the deal in 2018 during the presidency of Donald Trump.

Western diplomats believe there’s only a brief window of opportunity left in which to salvage the pact, the ultimate aim of which is to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on Tehran.

However, talks between Iran and the six other parties to the agreement — China, Germany, France, the UK, Russia and the US — have been faltering for months.

A new draft of the deal currently under discussion takes into account recent nuclear advances made by Tehran, some of which would have to be walked back, dpa has learned.

On Monday, Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammed Eslami repeated the claim that Tehran was already capable of building a nuclear bomb but does not intend to.

“The Onus is on those who breached the deal & have failed to distance from ominous legacy,” the leader of the the Iranian delegation, Kani Bagheri, tweeted earlier.

“The US must seize the opportunity offered by the JCPOA partners’ generosity; ball is in their court to show maturity & act responsibly,” he added.

The US special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, tweeted that Washington’s “expectations are in check, but the US welcomes EU efforts and is prepared for a good faith attempt to reach a deal. It will shortly be clear if Iran is prepared for the same”.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had called for the lifting of all sanctions imposed on Tehran by the US following its 2018 withdrawal from the deal.

Tehran has consistently argued that it intends to use nuclear energy for purely peaceful purposes, and has repeatedly stressed that the nuclear deal is of no value to the country unless sanctions are also lifted.

The fresh talks come shortly after the IAEA warned that Iran was only weeks away from producing the materials necessary to build a nuclear bomb.

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August 5, 2022
US to hit Iran with more sanctions for missile, drone program

The planned sanctions come as the Biden administration considers tightening enforcement of existing sanctions on Iran’s oil industry amid a stall to nuclear negotiations ongoing in Vienna….reports Asian Lite News

The Biden administration is planning a sanctions campaign against Iran’s growing precision drone and missile strike capability, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Officials are concerned that Iran’s missile and drone program — administered exclusively by the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) — represents a more immediate danger to US allies and Middle East stability than Iran’s nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile programs.

While some elements of Iran’s missile program have already been sanctioned, the new measures will cast a wider net by targeting its procurement networks, such as part-providers.

“It’s part of a comprehensive approach so we’re dealing with all aspects of the Iranian threat,” a senior U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal.

The new measures come as US forces and allies in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East have increasingly found themselves on the receiving end of drone and missile attacks by Tehran’s IRGC-aligned regional proxies.

“Iran’s drones are becoming an increasing threat to our allies in the region,” said another U.S. official.

The planned sanctions come as the Biden administration considers tightening enforcement of existing sanctions on Iran’s oil industry amid a stall to nuclear negotiations ongoing in Vienna.

Biden has offered a reduction in sanctions if the Islamic Republic returns to the terms of the 2015 deal, which saw curbs to Iran’s nascent nuclear program in exchange for an easing of sanctions.

However, the issue of Iran’s sub-atomic weaponry, including ballistic missiles, guided missiles and drones has increasingly become a bone of contention between the two longtime enemies.

Iran’s pursuit of further-reaching, more accurate and more powerful missiles earned it a suite of US sanctions, and the Biden administration has made clear that those sanctions are outside the scope of the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

Tehran said it would only return to the 2015 deal if all sanctions on its missile program are lifted, as well as the terror designation the US and others have placed on the IRGC.

The US Treasury department, which is in charge of implementing sanctions, has already placed a variety of restrictions on the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group in Yemen. The Houthis have used Iranian weapons to wage their ongoing war against the UN-recognized Yemeni government, as well as to target Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.

In 2019, drones were used to target an important oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, seriously damaging the facility and disrupting the global oil market.

Saudi Arabia alone has been attacked over 100 times in recent months by Iran’s proxies in Yemen, using Iranian equipment including large and small drones, ballistic missiles, and precision missiles.

Iran’s growing domestic arms and drone manufacturing base has proved useful in supplying its proxies, and the new sanctions will aim to disrupt elements of the industry that rely on illicit imports from abroad.

Robert Czulda, an assistant professor specializing in Iran at Poland’s University of Lodz, told the Wall Street Journal that the sanctions “would notably disrupt Iran’s defense supply chain.”

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July 30, 2021
US govt prepared to return to seventh round of talks with Iran

Global powers have been in talks with Tehran since early April to revive the 2015 deal..reports Asian Lite News

The United States will not impose a deadline on a seventh round of talks with Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, but only Tehran can determine when talks will resume, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday.

“Questions about when or whether Iran would be prepared to start a seventh round or reach an understanding on a mutual return to the JCPOA, those can only be addressed by Tehran,” Price said, referring to an acronym for the Iran nuclear deal.

“We’ve made very clear that we are prepared to return to a seventh round,” he said, adding: “We’re not imposing a deadline on these talks, but … we are conscious that as time proceeds Iran’s nuclear advances will have a bearing on our view of ultimately returning to the JCPOA,” Price said.

He also said that Washington continues to believe that “diplomacy is the most effective means at our disposal to achieve what we seek, and that is verifiably and permanently ensuring that Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Global powers have been in talks with Tehran since early April to revive the 2015 deal. Washington withdrew from the pact three years ago, and Iran has responded by gradually breaching its restrictions.

Garry Kasparov speaks out against Iranian regime

World-renowned chess player Garry Kasparov has spoken out about the plight of everyday Iranians at the hands of the regime and urged the US to cease negotiations with Iran, calling them a “terrible mistake.”

Kasparov, who now works as chairman of the New York-based Human rights Foundation, told an Iranian opposition event: “For all the foreign interference, terror, and war caused by the illegitimate Iranian regime, it is vital to remember that no one suffers more than the citizens of that regime.”

The government, Kasparov continued, “has no authority from the people. Instead, it fears its people, it oppresses and tortures them.”

Kasparov is among the world’s most decorated chess players. He was world number one for a record breaking 255 months, and held the highest ever rating in chess for 14 years, until being dethroned in 2013 by Magnus Carlsen.

Since retiring from chess, he has devoted himself to campaigning on human rights issues and against autocracy — including against his own home country, Russia.

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July 14, 2021
Iran refuses to deliver n-records to IAEA

The IAEA and Iranian officials reached a temporary understanding in February to keep the Agency’s monitoring cameras under Tehran’s supervision for a period….reports Asian Lite News

Iran will not deliver records of its nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after a temporary understanding reached in January expired, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said.

“Nothing was extended, and therefore none of the items recorded inside will ever be given to the agency,” Xinhua news agency quoted Qalibaf as saying on Sunday.

Answering a question by an MP in a public session, the Speaker added that the records are in possession of the Iranian authorities, and Tehran’s Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions (SAPCS) law is being “thoroughly” implemented.

The SAPCS act was passed by Parliament in December 2020, requiring among other measures the Iranian executive branch to stop implementing the Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by February 23, in case the sanctions imposed on the country by the US were not lifted.

The IAEA and Iranian officials reached a temporary understanding in February to keep the Agency’s monitoring cameras under Tehran’s supervision for a period of three months up to May 24, and deliver the records to the agency only after sanctions on the country are lifted.

On June 25, the IAEA required an “immediate response” from Iran regarding the “possible continued collection, recording and retention of data”, as contemplated in the temporary understanding, the media reported.

Iran’s Ambassador to Vienna-based international organizations, Kazem Gharibabadi said on June 26 that Tehran’s continued collection of data was “solely based on good will, and not as part of its obligations” towards the IAEA.

“Iran is not bound by any commitment to implement the agency’s demand,” and has “no duty to report on the expired agreement,” Gharibabadi added.

Later in the day, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry warned that Tehran will not negotiate endlessly over the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, urging the US to abandon the “failed legacy” of former President Donald Trump.

The US government under Trump withdrew from the international deal in May 2018 and unilaterally reimposed sanctions on Iran.

In response, Iran gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments to the agreement from May 2019.

Since April 6, the Joint Commission of the nuclear agreement have continued discussions about a possible return of the US to the deal and how to ensure the full and its effective implementation.

ALSO READ: ‘Iran should not be playing brinksmanship on IAEA pact’

June 28, 2021
Rouhani says main issues with US on n-deal resolved

Rohani also said a breakthrough in Vienna talks to revive a nuclear deal before he leaves office in August required a “will” beyond his power….reports Asian Lite News

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran’s main issues with the United States in Vienna negotiations were resolved, adding that there are “only few minor issues left”, on which negotiations will be done, according to media reports.

Rohani also said a breakthrough in Vienna talks to revive a nuclear deal before he leaves office in August required a “will” beyond his power.

“If there is the will that this be done in the current administration, then this administration has finished the work,” reports quoted Rouhani as saying.

However, a final decision regarding the talks rests with the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Meanwhile, Iran has dampened hopes of an early agreement in its dispute with the US over the 2015 nuclear deal.

“We have come closer, but we are still far from an agreement,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday.

He did not want to confirm speculation that the nuclear negotiations in Vienna would enter the final round next week, reports dpa news agency.

Before that, Araghchi said, the US and other parties would have to make “some difficult decisions”.

Iran’s final decision would also definitely not be made in Vienna, but in Tehran, the Deputy Minister and head of Iran’s delegation in Vienna said.

A new problem in the Vienna negotiations is the imminent change of political power in Iran.

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The top favourite in the presidential election is the arch-conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi, who had always sharply criticised the 2015 Vienna nuclear agreement.

Whether he will continue President Hassan Rouhani’s moderate course is questionable, according to observers.

It is also unclear at present who will soon be appointed as chief nuclear negotiator and lead the negotiations on behalf of Iran.

According to European diplomats, the negotiations to save the nuclear agreement with Iran are heading for the most delicate phase.

Representatives from Germany, France and Britain have been trying since early April, together with Russia and China, to mediate between Iran and the US.

At stake are the difficult questions which of the many Iran sanctions Washington is willing to lift and how to permanently prevent Iranian nuclear facilities from being used for military purposes.

Under the leadership of the previous president Donald Trump, Washington had unilaterally left the nuclear pact in 2018 and again imposed economically painful sanctions on Tehran.

The Islamic Republic then gradually expanded its nuclear activities in contravention of the agreements and restricted international nuclear inspections.

Most recently, Iran began producing uranium that is just below the purity level suitable for nuclear weapons.

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June 3, 2021
Iran N-talks revive in Vienna

The Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015 but paralyzed by the US withdrawal in 2018…reports Asian Lite News.

As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mentioned, Vienna n-deal talks are really “encouraging signs” as it foresees a compromise and returning to the Iran nuclear deal.

The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the Iran nuclear deal, resumed talks here again, with the lifting of sanctions on Iran and nuclear implementation measures on top of the agenda.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a press release earlier on Friday that participants would “take stock of the discussions held at various levels this week, including the relevant expert groups, in the view of a possible return of the United States and to ensure the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA by all sides”, Xinhua news agency reported.

The joint commission started the talks on Tuesday, which have drawn public attention as representatives from the United States are in Vienna to save the deal.

The Iran nuclear deal was struck in 2015 but paralyzed by the US withdrawal in 2018.

The US and Iranian negotiators are expected not to meet face-to-face, but will hold indirect talks with the intensified help of the coordinators, according to a statement previously released the by EEAS.

The talks are chaired by Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary general and political director of the EEAS, on behalf of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran are attending.

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April 10, 2021
Members of Iran nuclear deal to convene in Vienna

Representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and Iran, known as the participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), met virtually on Friday, and “agreed to resume this session of the Joint Commission in Vienna next week

The parties to the Iran nuclear deal will convene in Vienna next week to discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions on Tehran, as well as the country’s responsibility for further implementing the agreement, the European Union (EU) said in a statement.

Representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and Iran, known as the participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), met virtually on Friday, and “agreed to resume this session of the Joint Commission in Vienna next week, in order to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures”, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

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Friday’s high-level online meeting was chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General and Political Director of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, on behalf of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

Josep Borrell, The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

“Positive meeting today,” Mora said on Twitter following the meeting.

The parties will reconvene in Vienna next week, with “substantial work ahead for a key opportunity” to bring the JCPOA back to life, he added.

The participants recognised the prospect of a full return of the US to the JCPOA and “underlined their readiness to positively address this in a joint effort, according to the EEAS.

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They also “emphasized their commitment to preserve the JCPOA and discussed modalities to ensure the return to its full and effective implementation”.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who attended the virtual session, said that there is no alternative to the JCPOA.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

All parties involved should make every effort for the earliest possible return of the Iran nuclear deal to the originally established framework, Ryabkov said.

The participants paid special attention to the measures that should be taken by the US to eliminate previously committed violations of the JCPOA and to lift its sanctions against Iran, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

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The US confirmed on Friday that it would attend the meeting in Vienna next week, saying it remains “open to” direct talks with Tehran.

“We have agreed to participate in talks with our European, Russian, and Chinese partners to identify the issues involved in a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA with Iran,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran would be aiming for the “choreographed removal of all sanctions” followed by “Iran ceasing remedial measures”.

The EU said in its statement that the coordinator will “intensify separate contacts in Vienna with all JCPOA participants and the US”.

The development was welcomed by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who said it is good that all the relevant actors will meet to work on fully implementing the nuclear agreement again.

Also Read – N-deal will die forever if arms ban extended

The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, the UK, Russia, France, China, plus Germany) and the EU.

Tehran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear weapons program in exchange for decreased economic sanctions.

President Joe Biden (www.instagram.com/whitehouse)

Washington under former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran.

The US and Iran are at a standoff over reviving the nuclear deal.

The Joe Biden administration said that if Iran returns to full compliance with the JCPOA, the US would do the same.

But Iran insisted its compliance would only take place once US sanctions were removed.

April 3, 2021