Iran Nuclear Talks Resume in Vienna
According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium is 16 times the limit allowed under the international agreement signed in 2015.
The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, expressed his “concern” that Iran had not given clarifications about sites suspected of having witnessed previous undeclared nuclear activities.
Iran has gradually abandoned its nuclear commitments since 2019 in response to the re-imposition of US sanctions by former President Donald Trump. The negotiating process continues in Vienna in an attempt to return the United States to the aforementioned agreement aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons.
A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that its director-general was “concerned that technical talks between the agency and Iran did not reach the desired results,” referring to talks about the sites with Iranian officials.
No breach was recorded during the fifth round of talks
This comes as diplomatic sources in Vienna announced, on Monday, that no breach was recorded during the fifth round of talks, and expressed fears that a sixth round of talks would not be held next week, as it coincides with the time of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to discuss Iran’s violations of its nuclear obligations.
The participants in the fifth round of talks in Vienna did not record a breach, according to negotiators and diplomats, amid reports of the possibility of resuming another round in the next few days.
Diplomats attributed the failure of the fifth round of talks to reach an agreement on many details and basic issues that are still in dispute, in addition to the fact that the Tehran delegation did not have the space to negotiate, as they put it, and they are negotiating under direct orders from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Iranian delegation to Vienna justified the failure to reach an agreement with the world powers by the need for further consultations with its leaders in Tehran.
He continued, “The Iranian delegation is negotiating with clear orders from the Leader and does not have much room for maneuvering, and there are many technical details related to Iran’s commitments that hinder a lot of progress.”
Earlier, a senior diplomatic source told Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath that there is a growing feeling that this tour will not be the last, pointing out that there are major outstanding issues that cannot be resolved from Vienna. He added: “The political decisions taken in Tehran and Washington before returning to the fifth round were not enough.”
In this context, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that if no result is reached in the Vienna negotiations, Iran will reduce its commitments. He added: “There are no dead ends in the Vienna negotiations, and there are basic issues that need more time to be resolved.”
Saeed Khatibzadeh said, on Monday, that his country and the six world powers have made remarkable progress in talks to revive the nuclear agreement signed in 2015, but there are basic issues that still need to be resolved.
He added in a weekly press conference: “Every round of talks in Vienna could have been the last. We should not rush. We have made remarkable progress, but there are key issues that remain. There is no stalemate in the Vienna talks.”
Khatibzadeh explained that “all sanctions must be lifted and after that Iran will verify them, and then we will retract the nuclear steps.”
Earlier, prior to the failure of the tour, he announced Russian envoy to the Vienna talks Regarding the Iranian nuclear agreement, Mikhail Ulyanov said that the world powers (the parties to the nuclear agreement), and Iran, have resumed the fifth round of nuclear negotiations, and that there is a consensus to reach an agreement during the current round.
Iran is demanding the lifting of sanctions imposed by the administration of former US President Donald Trump, in return for its commitment to the terms of the nuclear agreement.
“The fifth round of Vienna negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is currently underway,” Ulyanov said in a tweet on Twitter, adding that “as of now, there are no plans to conduct a sixth round.”
Last week, the US envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, tweeted: “The latest round of (nuclear) talks has been constructive and has seen tangible progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”
He stressed that “the negotiators are proceeding in the negotiations, on the principle that this round must be final.”
“We hope that we can move forward towards a mutual return to compliance,” Malley added.
For his part, the European envoy to the Vienna talks, Enrique Mora, stressed that the parties participating in the Vienna talks on the Iranian nuclear “will redouble their efforts” to reach an agreement to revive the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”
The European envoy indicated that “the extension of the monitoring agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency will allow a little more room, in order to reach an agreement,” during these talks, which began last April.
