Iran Fully Prepared for Strong Deal in Vienna Talks: FM

In a telephone conversation on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian and his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani talked about a range of issues, including Tehran-Doha bilateral ties, the regional and international developments, and the Vienna talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

On the course of negotiations in Vienna, Amirabdollahian reiterated the necessity of respecting the Iranian nation’s interests and the Islamic Republic’s red lines.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is fully prepared for the achievement of a good, strong and sustainable agreement,” he underlined.

For his part, the Qatari foreign minister hailed Iran’s constructive role in the Vienna talks, calling for collective efforts to reach an eventual deal.

The two senior diplomats also stressed the need for constant consultations between Iran and Qatar about the development of their bilateral ties and also for interaction with regard to the issues of mutual interest at the regional and international arenas.

Iran and the remaining participants to the JCPOA have been holding talks in Vienna since April last year with the aim of reviving the deal by bringing the US into full compliance.

The US left the JCPOA in May 2018 under former president Donald Trump. The Vienna talks began on a promise by Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, to rejoin the deal and repeal the so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran. Biden, however, has so far failed to undo Trump’s own undoing of Barack Obama’s Iran policy, which led to the JCPOA in June 2015.

The eighth round of the Vienna talks began on December 27 with a focus on the removal of all sanctions that the United States had imposed on Iran after its unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA. The US is not allowed to directly attend the talks due to its pullout in 2018 from the deal with Iran.