Iran Could Consider 'Interim' Nuclear Deal, Senior Lawmaker Says
British Iranian journalist and political analyst
The chairman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has said that an "interim deal" could be considered in Vienna nuclear talks.
Speaking to the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) Wednesday, Vahid Jalalzadeh said the other parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) want an interim deal and have made some proposals. "This is not ideal although we have not ruled it out and are considering it," Jalalzadeh said.
Jalalzadeh insisted that Iran does not want a new deal and said the United States wants the JCPOA to be restored because it will bring advantages to it such as limiting Iran's nuclear capabilities and added that the Islamic Republic would only allow the return of the US if it can be assured that Iran can also reap the benefits of the deal.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Monday after Russian-US talks that "various schemes were possible" for reaching the ultimate goal in the Vienna talks. "A step-by-step approach based on reciprocity [is likely to be used] to achieve the main goal," the top Russian diplomat said according to Tass while reiterating that that he saw no need for setting any deadlines for reaching a final decision on the JCPOA.
The US and its European allies have warned that the window for further talks in Vienna could close by the end of January or the beginning of February. Following high-level talks with Israeli officials in Jerusalem on December 22, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told Haaretz that Washington and others have not publicly put a date on the calendar “but behind closed doors, there is a deadline, and it is not far away.”
On Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters that Tehran would not agree to any deals without the lifting of US sanctions and "verification and receiving guarantees" and it only wants a "lasting and reliable agreement". Khatibzadeh said Tehran was not satified with the pace of the talks and would not accept any "forged dates" to conclude the talks.
Tasnim news agency which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), said Wednesday that it has been informed by its sources that "a major part of the talks" in Vienna in the past few days were focused on "verification" of the lifting of sanctions and "receiving guarantees" that the other sides will not renege on the deal.
Tasnim also reported that "non-papers are exchanged on a daily basis" with the US delegation through the European Union representative Enrique Mora. The Iranian delegation insists on these two demands, Tasnim said, to make sure the US would not fail to deliver its commitments “as occurred during the presidency of Barack Obama”, or withdrawal as his successor Donald Trump did. "The stability factor in the agreement is of a higher importance," Tasnim said to ensure any prospective agreement would have lasting results.
"During the Obama period Iran's compliance was meticulously and quantitively verified by the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) whereas there was no mechanism for verification of the other sides' compliance with the lifting of sanctions. This was the reason that the lifting of sanctions did not bear tangible outcomes for Iran," Tasnim wrote.
