Further Talks Needed On Nuclear Issue, Says Iran Foreign Minister

The Iranian foreign minister has said continuing talks are needed to clarify international commitments in restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

In remarks quoted by the official news agency IRNA, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres Saturday that talks were needed “with different countries to be prepared for…implementing the agreements reached under the 2015 deal.”

The meeting, on the side-lines of the 58th Munich Security Conference (MSC) in southern Germany, came with growing speculation that broad agreement had been reached in Vienna in Iran’s talks with world powers over reviving the 2015 agreement, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

A report this week from the Reuters news agency, which hinted at interim arrangements, was dismissed in Tehran. Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, noted Saturday that often-anonymous quotes from “western diplomats” in Vienna were speculative or designed to mislead.

"Progress is significant in the negotiation process, but the other side still has to secure Iran's legitimate rights and interests in some key issues," Amir-Abdollahian said. Further talks, he continued, should cover “international cooperation” and Tehran’s foreign policy.

The remarks as reported in IRNA did not clarify whether Amir-Abdollahian was talking about the nitty-gritty of restoring the JCPOA, referencing Iran’s search for European guarantees of open trade with Iran once the JCPOA is restored, or suggesting possible ‘follow-on’ talks as demanded by the United States.

The Reuters report, which the agency said was based on a draft agreement, said a sequence of steps in restoring the JCPOA would begin with a phase in which Iran suspended uranium enrichment above 5 percent and the United States lifted its threat to sanction South Korean banks over repatriating $7 billion Iranian assets. In this phase, Reuters said, the US would not lift ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. The report also suggested a prisoner swap between Washington and Tehran could be included.

The IRNA report suggested agreement on restoring the JCPOA was not to be assumed. It quoted Amir-Abdollahian, in meeting German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, that she should “carefully consider Iran’s red lines…[and] play an effective role in securing the legitimate rights of Iran as a party that was affected by the United States’ unilateral and illegal withdrawal” from the JCPOA.

Amir-Abdollahian further underlined the need for no-one to make a miscalculation in the Vienna discussions by creating media hype. “Tehran is taking heed of both the quality of an agreement and the element of time,” he said. “If Iran’s legitimate demands are taken into account today, an agreement can be reached in Vienna.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the Munich Security Conference Saturday that time for reviving the JCPOA was running out. "We now have the chance to reach an agreement that will allow sanctions to be lifted,” he said. “But if we do not succeed very quickly, the negotiations risk failing. The Iranian leadership has a choice. Now is the moment of truth."