Iran Urges US to Stop ‘Double-Dealing’ in Vienna Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian called on the US to stop “double dealing” and show genuine will in order for the talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal to yield results.
One day after a telephone conversation with European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell about the stalled JCPOA talks in Vienna, the Iranian foreign minister reiterated Tehran’s readiness for the conclusion of talks in a series of tweets on Thursday.
“In constructive convo with @JosepBorrellF, discussed messages exchanged on Vienna Talks and re-emphasized Iran's absolute readiness to conclude negotiations ASAP. The US must stop double-dealing. Genuine will is needed. We remain fully committed to secure rights of our people,” Amirabdollahian wrote.
Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally left the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had lifted. He placed additional sanctions on Iran under other pretexts not related to the nuclear case as part of his "maximum pressure" campaign.
The talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in the Austrian capital in April last year, months after Joe Biden succeeded Trump, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.
Despite notable progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks.
In his tweets on Thursday, Amirabdollahian once again dismissed Western claims of Iran’s delivery of weapons and drones to Russia to be used against Ukraine.
The top Iranian diplomat also rejected “hypocritical” statements by the US and some of its European allies regarding what they claimed to be human rights abuse in the country during the recent riots.
“Also reiterated our crystal clear position on Ukraine: war is not the solution. Accusations are fabricated & unsubstantiated. Addressing hypocritical EU3/US statements on human rights in Iran, strongly rejected any foreign interference. Iran is anchor of stability in the region,” Amirabdollahian noted.
Riots broke out in Iran on September 16 after a young Iranian woman, identified as Mahsa Amini died. The 22-year-old fainted at a police station in the capital, Tehran, and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. An official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization said that Amini’s controversial death was caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs, Press TV reported.
