Iran and the United States resumed indirect talks in Vienna on Monday, with Tehran focusing on one aspect of the original deal – the lifting of sanctions, despite what critics see as little progress on curbing its nuclear activities.
In Tehran, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told reporters that “the Vienna talks are going in the right direction… We believe that if the other parties continue the round of talks, which has just begun, in good faith, a good agreement can be reached for all parties.”
“If they show seriousness, as well as goodwill, it is possible to reach an agreement quickly and in the near future,” Amir Abdullahian added in video clips broadcast by state media.
Presenting “No Dispute”
For his part, Russia’s envoy to the nuclear talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, wrote on Twitter, “We note indisputable progress… Lifting of sanctions is actively being discussed in informal talks” in a working group.
The seventh round of talks ended 11 days ago by adding some new Iranian demands to the text that is being worked on.
The European powers said the talks had made no tangible progress since they first resumed after the election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in June.
They added that negotiators have “weeks, not months” before the 2015 agreement loses its value.
The deal lifted sanctions on Iran in return for strict limits on its nuclear activities.
But former US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the agreement in 2018, and re-imposed severe sanctions on Tehran.
Iran later responded by violating many of the nuclear restrictions and proceeding with its nuclear activities.
Iran refuses to meet directly with US officials, so the other parties to the agreement, namely Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union, move between the two sides in separate meetings.
The United States has repeatedly expressed its displeasure with this formula, saying it slows down the process, and Western officials remain suspicious that Iran is simply playing to buy time.
On the other hand, Iranian media said on Tuesday that Raisi plans to visit Russia in early 2022, at the invitation of its President Vladimir Putin.
Israel is preparing militarily
In addition, Chief of the General Staff General Aviv Kohavi said that the army is continuing its preparations for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, in line with its activities against attempts to locate them in Syria.
Kohavi revealed that the army carried out more than 1,600 operations this year to thwart attempts to smuggle weapons on six different fronts, and that these operations contributed to obstructing and preventing the smuggling of large quantities of weapons from Iran to the region.
He added that Iran’s failure to respond to the air strikes attributed to Israel on sites that might be used to store weapons indicates the increased deterrence of the state, and that the Israeli army continues to improve the capabilities of its units in various fields, stressing that missile attacks still pose the main threat to Israel.
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