Iranian Chief Negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani begins a European tour today, Tuesday, ahead of heading his country's delegation to the scheduled talks in Vienna in three weeks. Tehran has set three conditions for Washington to restore the nuclear agreement, which include the lifting of sanctions all at once, guarantees from the U.S. that it will not abandon the agreement again, and acknowledgment of "its shortcomings" in the withdrawal that caused the current situation.
Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani stated that he will meet with several European counterparts in the coming days to discuss bilateral issues, regional matters, and the continuation of the nuclear talks set to resume later this month. He added in a tweet on his Twitter account that his country will spare no effort in defending its national interests and working towards the lifting of illegal sanctions imposed on it.
A French diplomatic source told Reuters that Bagheri Kani will hold talks today with Philippe Errera, Director of Political Affairs at the French Foreign Ministry and head of the French negotiation team, as part of efforts to plan for the resumption of the Vienna talks. Major powers are preparing for a new round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the U.S. aimed at rescuing the 2015 nuclear deal from a state of clinical death, three and a half years after former U.S. President Donald Trump signed the withdrawal decree.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, during his weekly conference, stated that the path for the U.S. return to the agreement is "clear," echoing previous conditions regarding lifting sanctions and verifying them. He emphasized that the U.S. must provide guarantees that it will not abandon the nuclear agreement again if it is revived. He also stated that the U.S. administration must lift all sanctions imposed on Iran in a verifiable process.
Furthermore, Mahmoud Abbas Zadeh Mishkini, spokesman for the parliamentary National Security Commission, also mentioned on Monday, according to Fars news agency, that the Vienna negotiations should start from the point of former President Donald Trump's withdrawal, stressing the need to not abandon the demand for guarantees from the U.S. administration against a future withdrawal.
Tehran fears a consensus between the European trio and the U.S. administration to raise the issues of regional activities and ballistic missiles if Washington manages to return to the nuclear agreement, which would allow it to activate the "dispute resolution mechanism." The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated in a release that Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian had a phone conversation with his British counterpart Liz Truss yesterday regarding bilateral issues, the Vienna negotiations, and some regional matters.
