Iran Says Some Of Its Demands Not Yet Considered In Vienna Talks

Iran says some of its demands for removal of sanctions have not been considered yet in the Vienna talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

During a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto in Tehran on Monday, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “In the latest texts obtained from the Vienna talks, parts of our demands for the lifting of sanctions have not yet been addressed.”

He said the Iranian negotiating team will focus on a document agreeable by all parties in the upcoming sessions of the Vienna talks, scheduled to restart on Tuesday, calling on all the parties to show determination about reaching an agreement.

Earlier in the day, other officials reiterated demands for removal of all ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions imposed since 2018.

The head of Iran’s national security council, Ali Shamkhani, said an agreement that won’t lift all sanctions cannot be the basis of “a good deal”, while foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatbzadeh reiterated that lifting of sanctions is Iran’s "red line".

‘Maximum pressure’ refers to around 1,500 sanctions imposed by former president Donald Trump, who withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA), but a majority are sanctions on Iranian officials, individuals and companies for reasons other than the nuclear program. Sanctions were imposed for human rights violations, support for terror groups, violation of banking and export laws, money laundering and similar offences.