Iran says Vienna talks cannot resume immediately, govt needs time to 'reorganise'

Iran's foreign ministry said that talks aimed at renewing Iran's nuclear agreement with international powers will most likely not restart for another two to three months. The discussions, which are being led by the European Union, began in April, in Vienna, and aim to pull the United States back into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 agreement to limit Iran's nuclear programmes in exchange for sanction relief. 

Former US President Donald Trump had unilaterally pulled out of the agreement in 2018, reimposing a series of sanctions on Tehran.

'Will take time to reorganise'

Negotiations were suspended on 20 June, two days after ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi was elected president of Iran, and no date for resumption has been announced since.

Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during an interview, broadcast on Tuesday evening by the country's state television, said, "We are not seeking to abandon the negotiating table, and the... government believes that a genuine dialogue is one that produces tangible outcomes that allow the Iranian nation's rights to be secured."

He described the Vienna discussions as "one of the issues on the foreign policy and government agenda." However, "the other party is well aware that it will take two to three months for the new government to organise itself and begin making decisions." 

Raisi took office as president in early August, succeeding moderate Hassan Rouhani, the main architect of the 2015 accord on Iran's side. After winning legislative approval, Raisi's government was sworn in on 26 August.

The 2015 agreement, popularly referred to as the Iran Nuclear Deal, offers Iran relief from Western and UN sanctions in exchange for strict limitations over its nuclear programme, which would be supervised by the UN. Iran effectively abandoned most of its commitments under the deal in retribution for Trump's pullout three years ago and subsequent reinstatement of crippling sanctions. However, Trump's successor, Joe Biden, wants to bring Washington back into the accord. The negotiations in Vienna feature Iran as well as the remaining five signatories to the agreement: the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, and Russia.

Critical for Iran to return to negotiating table: France

France and Germany encouraged Iran to resume nuclear talks as soon as possible, on Wednesday, with Paris demanding an "immediate" resumption amid Western concerns about Tehran's developing nuclear programme. In a phone call, France's foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, informed his newly-appointed Iranian counterpart that it was critical for Tehran to return to the discussions, according to a statement from Le Drian's ministry. After the conversation between Le Drian and Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign ministry stated that the minister underlined the need and urgency of a rapid resumption of negotiations.

(Image: @UANI/Twitter)