Iran calls on US to lift sanctions to show 'seriousness' to resume nuclear talks in Vienna

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on 18 October that the United States should lift sanctions imposed on Tehran in a bid to prove that Washington is serious about restarting the stalled nuclear negotiations in Vienna. While the talks between Iran and the European members of the 2015 nuclear accord alongside China and Russia have been stalled since June, Raisi said in a televised interview with the state TV that Tehran is after “goal-oriented” talks with the West and noted that his country “never left” the negotiation grounds. 

“Lifting sanctions is an indication of seriousness of the other party,” he said in a broadcast on state-run TV, as per AP.

Amid suspended nuclear negotiations regarding the 2015 nuclear deal or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Raisi’s government acquired power in August but is yet to fix a date for restarting the talks. AP has stated that Iran has been reluctant with a swift resumption of negotiations in Vienna and is seeking to meet with other parties to the deal, in Brussels before turning to the table in the Austrian capital. 

Blinken meets UN atomic watchdog’s chief

Iranian President Raisi’s remarks came as the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the chief of the United Nation’s (UNs) atomic watchdog in Washington on 18 October. Following which the US State Department said that US President Joe Biden’s administration does not think a preliminary meeting in Brussels was essential. When asked about the preliminary meeting in Brussels, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, “To be clear, we do not think it is necessary...We have been very clear that the destination we seek is Vienna not an intermediate step in Brussels.”

Meanwhile, Raisi has demanded that Iran “is serious in this issue, we should see the seriousness in the other party” as well. Due to the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran drastically reduced the enrichment of uranium in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. However, the deal signed during former US President Barack Obama administration did not last for too long as his successor Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal and reimposed the crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Trump’s 2018 move resulted in an increase in tensions in the Middle East with Tehran breaching its limits on uranium enrichment set under the deal, stated The Associated Press. The news agency has further stated that Iran is presently enriching brief amounts of uranium at the closest-ever levels to weapons-grade purity. Meanwhile, its stockpile reportedly continues to develop. 

IMAGE: AP

(With AP inputs)