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  1. #76
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    ^Yawn...

  2. #77
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    JCPOA Joint Commission convenes as fifth round of nuclear talks end without agreement

    June 2, 2021 - 22:1

    "TEHRAN – Parties to a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers announced on Wednesday that they would hold another meeting to discuss the latest developments regarding the Vienna nuclear talks. The meeting was set to be held at end of the fifth round of nuclear talks which are aimed to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

    The European Union said in a statement on Wednesday that the Joint Commission will hold a meeting late on Wednesday night.

    “The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will resume this Wednesday 2 June, in Vienna. The Joint Commission will be chaired, on behalf of EU High Representative Josep Borrell, by the Deputy Secretary General/Political Director of the European External Action Service, Enrique Mora. It will be attended by representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and Iran. Participants will continue their discussions in view of a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and on how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA,”

    the statement said.

    Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi who is leading the Iranian negotiating team in the Vienna talks confirmed on his Telegram channel the JCPOA Joint Commission will convene on Wednesday night.

    In remarks to Iran’s TV, he also said that the meeting will conclude the fifth round of talks.

    “Today we are in a situation where we have to make a new conclusion on the negotiations that have taken place so far,” he said ahead of the meeting.

    He added,

    “All delegations concluded that visits should be made to the capitals for further consultation and further decision-making on disputes. Today we will have a final meeting of the Joint Commission, after which the delegations will return to their capitals.”

    The top Iranian nuclear negotiator said during the Wednesday meeting a return date will likely be set for delegations to return to Vienna.

    “All delegations are determined and there is complete seriousness. Disagreements have reached a point where everyone believes that it is not impossible to resolve, but details are important anyway, and our firm positions are important to be respected. God willing, the meeting will conclude when we will start,” Araqchi said, noting, “I do not know if it will be too far and we will probably return to Vienna after a consultation period in Tehran, God willing, as in the past.”




    JCPOA Joint Commission convenes as fifth round of nuclear talks end without agreement - Tehran
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    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  3. #78
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Senior Iranian diplomat elaborates on Salehi’s letter to IAEA chief

    June 3, 2021 - 1:15

    "
    TEHRAN - Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Kazem Gharibabadi, has given more details about the letter that Iran’s nuclear chief sent to IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi.

    The letter, sent via Gharibabadi, contained details about Iran’s decision to announce the expiration of a technical understanding between Iran and the IAEA.


    The letter was announced after the Agency released a quarterly report on Iran in which it accused Iran of failing to explain traces of uranium found at several allegedly undeclared sites. The letter also came after Grossi announced on May 24 that he had agreed with Iran to extend by one month a February deal between Iran and the IAEA allowing the UN nuclear watchdog to continue necessary monitoring activities.

    However, Gharibabadi said on Twitter that Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), in his letter, told Grossi that the monitoring deal has expired.

    “Dr. Salehi's letter to @rafaelmgrossi:

    Whereas the Technical Understanding was expired on May 24, Iran decided not to extend it, meanwhile we decided to continue recording for one month aimed at providing another opportunity to conclude bilateral tech negotiations with the Agency,” Gharibabadi said on Twitter, adding,

    “On safeguards, Iran has so far done its utmost efforts to cooperate with the Agency substantively and provide the necessary clarifications and responses. We welcome the Agency’s readiness for engaging in a proactive and focused effort to resolve the issues without any delay.”

    According to Fars News, the Iranian diplomat also said,

    “And as before, we would continue to cooperate constructively with the Agency. We highly expect such a mutual determination would result in reaching a visible practical outcome as quickly as possible.”

    Gharibabadi provided more details about the letter in an interview with Iran’s TV.

    “We delivered this letter to the Director General of the Agency yesterday, which addresses two issues. One [aspect of the letter] is about a joint agreement we had with the Agency to record data from some of the Agency's surveillance cameras for three months without providing the data to the Agency, and if we reach an agreement on nuclear issues and the outcome as well as the lifting of sanctions after three months, then we will provide information to the Agency,”

    he said.

    According to Gharibabadi, safeguards issues constitute another aspect of the letter.

    “The letter explicitly states that Iran has all kinds of interactions and cooperation with the IAEA and that we are still ready to work with the IAEA to resolve a number of safeguards issues, but the IAEA must work with a neutral and non-political approach to conclude these issues as soon as possible,”

    he noted.

    Underlining that the AEOI-IAEA deal expired on May 24, the Iranian diplomat said,

    “There were contacts and requests from the Agency and the countries that are negotiating with us in the framework of the JCPOA talks to extend this understanding for another period. This issue was examined internally and the conclusion was that this understanding could not be legally extended, but the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to continue recording data for another month in its own good faith and as an independent decision and not a legal decision.”

    He added,

    “What happens next month and what we do with this data is an independent sovereign decision that takes into account a number of factors, including the Agency's approach and technical approaches, especially in negotiations with us on safeguards as well as political negotiations in the field of the JCPOA.”

    Gharibabadi also commented on the IAEA quarterly report on Iran.

    “The Director-General of the Agency released two quarterly reports yesterday for next week's meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, one on verifying the implementation of the JCPOA in Iran and the other on a number of remaining safeguards disputed between Iran and the IAEA,”

    he continued.

    “The entire JCPOA report is influenced by the decision we made to the Agency on February 15, 2021, stating that from 23 February we will cease all voluntary and transparent activities under the JCPOA. Our decision followed the implementation of the strategic law of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on the lifting of all sanctions and the protection of the rights of the nation. After that, all voluntary actions, including the implementation of the Additional Protocol in Iran, came to a halt,”

    the Iranian diplomat said, adding,

    “This report lists verification restrictions in more than a dozen cases, and this report indicates that Iran's decision and the law of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have been well implemented in this regard. Another point reflected in the JCPOA report is that this report acknowledges that Iran's nuclear activities, especially in the two areas of new machines and enrichment, i.e. both the level of enrichment and enrichment up to 5%, up to 20% and up to 60% as well as the stockpile or the amount of uranium we enrich, continue as before.”

    He stated that there has been no suspension of Iran's nuclear activities, adding,

    “The parliamentary law and Iran's decision to suspend voluntary activities are underway and all nuclear activities in various fields continue, and the Agency report confirms this. Of course, due to the fact that the Agency, because of our decision, did not have access to its own monitoring equipment and we suspended some of its beyond-safeguards access, some of the statistics the Agency published about the activities are estimates of the Agency and some of the statistics in the Agency report on the JCPOA are the result of the Agency's safeguards-related verifications, which is not prohibited.”

    Gharibabadi added,

    “In the second report released by the Agency on safeguards, you are aware that we have about three or four disputes concerning safeguards with the Agency. We repeatedly told the Agency that these issues are not so important and complicated that the Agency wants to make them an important agenda for the International Atomic Energy Agency. It is claimed, for example, that some activities took place about two decades ago. The Agency took samples and some contaminants were found in one or two places, and we are working with the Agency to clear up these ambiguities.”

    He also warned the IAEA against adopting a political approach to cooperation between Iran and the UN body in the midst of the nuclear negotiations over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

    If the Agency continues to turn insignificant issues into political agenda, Gharibabadi warned, Iran will change its behavior with the international body accordingly.

    “The international community now suffers from concerns about the proliferation and existence of nuclear weapons in the hands of some regimes, such as the insane Israeli regime. What has the Agency done about this regime? While this regime is not a member of any of the disarmament institutions and disarmament and arms control treaties, the Agency has never put pressure on Israel,”

    Gharibabadi continued.

    The Iranian diplomat pointed out,

    “This regime has weapons and threatens to use them. Now you want to turn two or three old issues from more than two decades ago, which are very insignificant and worthless, into a political agenda in the case of Iran, which in 2020, according to a recent Agency report accepted more than 20 percent of the Agency inspections worldwide. This is not something that we can ignore. We will definitely pay attention to it and adjust our behavior.”

    He added,

    “We explicitly sent this message to the director general of the Agency, and yesterday I sent a serious warning in the form of a message to the director general of the Agency and head of the safeguards department, not to abuse Iran's goodwill and behavior, and to address the serious concerns the international community facing in the proliferation sphere. A prominent example of those concerns is the Israeli regime.”


    Senior Iranian diplomat elaborates on Salehi’s letter to IAEA chief - Tehran Times

  4. #79
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Is this part of the negotiations do you think?

  5. #80
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    Postponement of talks looms large as U.S. insists on destroying Iranian nuclear 'knowledge'

    June 9, 2021 - 22:17

    "In its Interim National Security Strategic Guidance issued in early March this year, the Biden administration equivocally warned of the prospect of Iran getting “game-changing capabilities and technologies.”

    As the negotiating parties make efforts to solve core issues in the Vienna nuclear talks, the U.S. doubles down on its efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring these kinds of technologies or destroy the knowledge behind the technologies in case Iran achieved them.
    This explains why the Vienna talks, aimed at reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have so far failed to yield tangible results, though they were widely expected by many observers to be concluded in late May or early June.The Biden administration is now injecting a note of caution despite the sanguine expectations expressed by the negotiating parties over the course of the past five rounds of nuclear talks, which began in early April.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that the U.S. still does not know whether Iran is ready to resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. “It remains unclear whether Iran is willing and prepared to do what it needs to do come back into compliance. So, we’re still testing that proposition,” he told lawmakers.

    The remarks elicited a response from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said Iran also wasn’t sure if the U.S. is ready to abandon the failed policy of “maximum pressure” adopted by the Trump administration and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against Iran.
    “It remains unclear whether @POTUS and @SecBlinken are ready to bury the failed ‘maximum pressure’ policy of Trump and @mikepompeo, and cease using Economic Terrorism as bargaining ‘leverage.’ Iran is in compliance with the JCPOA. Just read paragraph 36. Time to change course,” Zarif said on Twitter.

    Blinken’s remarks were the latest indication that the Vienna talks have reached a make-or-break point where all parties should make tough decisions. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating delegation in Vienna, confirmed this assessment on Wednesday after briefing lawmakers on the outcome of the fifth round of talks, which ended last week on Thursday.

    Speaking after a meeting at the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Araqchi said, “Negotiations have reached a point where some key issues still need to be decided. We will start a new round of talks next week and we hope to make progress on various issues, but it is too early to judge whether this will be the last round of talks.”

    But what are these “key issues” that, if not solved, the whole negotiation process would be derailed? The Iranian and American as well as the other negotiating parties have remained tight-lipped about these issues that if announced, would reveal the extent to which the U.S. attempts to prevent independent, sovereign nations from making scientific advances.

    According to press reports, these issues have much to do with the technological advances Iran has achieved after reducing its compliance with the deal. During the Vienna talks, the U.S. has demanded that Iran “destroy” the advanced centrifuges it started to spin at the Fordow and Natanz facilities one year after the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA. These centrifuges, known as the IR9, are 50 times more powerful at producing uranium than the ones covered by the JCPOA, according to Reuters.

    Iran flatly rejected the U.S. demand just as Washington refused an Iranian demand that the U.S. lift all the sanctions imposed, re-imposed, or relabeled by the Trump administration. In a bid to create a middle ground, Russia, with support from China, proposed that Iran seals and keeps the advanced centrifuges inside Iran under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), according to a report by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, a newspaper close to Qatar.

    It remains unclear whether the U.S. would accept this proposal, but the downbeat remarks of Western diplomats and analysts about the next round of talks leave little room for optimism about a conclusion of the nuclear negotiations in the coming days.
    Citing diplomats and analysts, Reuters said the remaining issues, including Western concern over Iran's expanding nuclear know-how, may need weeks or possibly months of further negotiations.

    Whether Iran and the U.S. would reach an agreement on thorny issues such as the advanced centrifuges and Iran’s production of metal uranium in the next round remains an open question. The U.S. seems to be more worried about the scientific progress Iran has made in terms of producing sophisticated equipment and materials than the accumulation of these materials that can be easily destroyed or shipped out of the country. The U.S. problem is not if Iran would destroy its equipment, rather it is Iran’s ability to re-manufacture this equipment.

    At the end of the day, he who can produce it for the first time can reproduce it at any other time."

    Postponement of talks looms large as U.S. insists on destroying Iranian nuclear 'knowledge' - Tehran Times

  6. #81
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    These negotiations are taking a long time.

  7. #82
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    JCPOA talks continue as Raisi secures landslide victory

    June 19, 2021 - 21:52

    "
    In what appeared to be a diplomatic miscalculation, the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief has said that an agreement with Iran should be reached after the outcome of Iran’s presidential election is announced.
    In remarks to Italian newspaper Repubblica, Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), called on the diplomats involved in the Vienna nuclear talks to wait until a new government in Iran is formed.

    The Vienna talks are mainly seeking to revive a 2015 nuclear deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
    “Everyone knows that at this point, it is necessary to wait for the formation of a new government in Iran,” Grossi said in response to a question on the point to which the Vienna talks reached.

    Grossi also pointed to the complications of the Vienna talks and said the revival of the JCPOA requires the political will of all parties. The director-general’s remarks raised eyebrows in Tehran as the IAEA chief is not in a position to make political remarks regarding the Vienna talks. Grossi’s predecessor, Yukiya Amano, always emphasized that the IAEA is not a member of the JCPOA and has only the task of verifying the fulfillment of Iran's nuclear obligations.

    However, Grossi has made bizarre statements in favor of the United States, saying that the Vienna talks that have been going on in recent weeks have faced very complex and technical issues. He claimed that reaching an agreement on the revival of the JCPOA required the political will of all parties.
    Grossi’s remarks also ran counter to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s stated position that what is happening in Vienna has nothing to do with Iran's elections and internal developments.

    The first official response to Grossi came from Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who is leading the Iranian negotiating team in Vienna. Araqchi said Grossi has no clue about the political atmosphere in Iran.

    “Mr. Grossi probably has no knowledge of political dynamism in Iran. Nuclear negotiations are a major foreign policy issue, and decisions are made at the highest levels of the system,”

    the Iranian diplomat said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

    “Reaching an agreement depends on meeting the key demands and resolving the fundamental concerns of the Islamic Republic, and whenever we reach such a point, an agreement will be reached, whether in this government or in the next government. Of course, I must say that we are now closer to an agreement than ever before, and I personally very much hope that an agreement will be reached in this government."

    He added, “Of course, the issues that are discussed at the negotiating tables should be addressed at the same desk, not in the media. However, I can generally say that the main problem with the negotiations is the approach of the Americans, who are unable to give up their excessive addiction to sanctions and still cannot understand that sanctions are a failed solution. As I said in one of my recent tweets, Trump is gone, but his illegal and criminal sanctions are still in place. As a matter of fact, the new U.S. administration has not yet stopped Trump's policy of maximum pressure and thinks that what Trump could not achieve with maximum threats and sanctions, they can achieve at the negotiating table. The negotiations that are currently underway are facing very complex and delicate technical issues, but what is needed to reach an agreement is the political will of all parties.”

    Araqchi also pointed to the probable election of Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, underlining that Raisi appeared realistic and pragmatic on foreign policy issues.There were some speculations that the Vienna talks could stop if Raisi won the presidential election. Raisi himself sought to allay these fears during the presidential debates, voicing support for the JCPOA and engagement with the international community.

    Responding to a question on the election of Raisi, Araqchi noted,

    “Mr. Raisi's positions in the field of foreign policy, as expressed during the election campaign, reflect a realistic and interactive policy based on cooperation with the international community and constructive economic interaction. His positions on the JCPOA and the ongoing negotiations also reflect the same realism and pragmatism in foreign policy. I am sure that if he is elected, there will be no disruption in the negotiation process.”


    The top Iranian nuclear negotiator underlined, “At the same time, I must say that it is the calculation of national interests that determines the success or failure of the negotiations. We are looking for the interests of the Iranian people and I am sure that whoever is elected president will pursue the same goal. In these negotiations, we count the interests of the country and the people, not the number of votes of the candidates. The policies set by the country's top authorities will determine the instructions of the Iranian negotiating team, and we will only move in that direction.”


    Grossi’s remarks appeared to have required a meeting between Iran and the IAEA. Araqchi met with the IAEA chief on Friday while millions of Iranians flocked to polling stations to cast their votes. During the meeting, Araqchi and Grossi discussed the JCPOA negotiations and the role of the UN nuclear watchdog, according to Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA.

    “Deputy Minister Araqchi and @rafaelmgrossi discussed today the latest developments around the JCPOA negotiations and possible assistance of the @iaeaorg in this process. They also reviewed mutual interactions and cooperation between Iran and the IAEA,”

    Gharibabadi said on Twitter.

    While Araqchi had said Iran moves forward with the Vienna talks in accordance with its interests, Grossi implied that the talks may be delayed until after the Iranian election. This is while Grossi is not a party to the talks and Iran has said that the talks should not be subject to internal considerations.

    Before heading to Vienna for another round of talks, Araqchi had stressed that Iran is looking for a good agreement and it will neither be in a rush nor will it waste time to reach such an agreement.

    “We are looking for a good agreement for the Islamic Republic of Iran and we are not in a hurry or wasting time on this path. The sooner we get there, the better, of course. It is important that in this agreement the principles that Iran wants are observed and the indicators that we want to reach are included,”

    he said.


    Besides, the main obstacle to reaching an agreement has not been the Iranian election. Instead, it was the U.S.'s refusal to make clear commitments that it will not back down on its word again, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

    Zarif also noted that the U.S. tries to exact more concessions from Iran at the negotiating table. He underlined that the U.S. cannot achieve at the negotiating table what it failed to through economic warfare. “I saw the latest edited text of the agreement. The text has become purer and purer. Parentheses are being removed. The main obstacle that remains is the issue of understanding these cases. The United States must come to terms with the fact that it was the parties who deliberately left the agreement, but their goal was not achieved. Now that they want to return to the agreement, they cannot achieve through the negotiating table a goal that was not achieved through economic warfare,”

    Zarif said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey.
    T
    he Iranian foreign minister also pointed out that the main obstacle in Vienna is how to verify U.S. adherence to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

    “The question that remains is how we can verify the fulfillment of U.S. commitments. The party that needs to reassure us is the United States, and that is an obstacle to the negotiations, and we are working on that right now,” he continued.

    Zarif added,

    “The Biden administration has come to realize that the Trump administration's policies have failed, but it is still trying to use it as leverage, and that is why there is a perceptual problem. America must know that it is completely isolated. I do not trust Biden. In diplomacy, no one trusts others. No one trusts another in diplomacy. In diplomacy, you have to verify. You need to build trust and be predictable.”

    Zarif pointed to Iran’s ability to reverse the remedial measures it taken in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018.


    “If we go back to JCPOA, we must live up to our commitment to 3.67% enrichment, and if that does not happen soon, we have no restrictions on enrichment. Even now we can increase enrichment but we do not need it,” Zarif stated.

    Iran has recently started 60% uranium enrichment at its Natanz nuclear enrichment plant as part of a calibrated policy designed to gradually reduce the country’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA nearly three years ago. The decision to increase the level of uranium enrichment was part of a broader strategy to reactivate Iran’s nuclear program, which has been under severe restrictions since the signing of the JCPOA in 2015".

    https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/462...dslide-victory
    Last edited by OhOh; 20-06-2021 at 12:21 PM.

  8. #83
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    In what appeared to be a diplomatic miscalculation, the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief has said that an agreement with Iran should be reached after the outcome of Iran’s presidential election is announced.
    It's almost like the author expected Iran to elect a president that *hadn't* been cherry picked by the mad mullahs to maintain the status quo.


  9. #84
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    UN chief urges U.S. to lift all sanctions on Iran

    June 30, 2021 - 19:35

    "TEHRAN - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the United States to remove all sanctions on Iran as agreed under a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in 2015.

    In a report to the UN Security Council, Guterres also urged the United States to “extend the waivers with regard to the trade in oil with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and fully renew waivers for nuclear non-proliferation projects,” according to a Reuters report.

    The report came one day before a meeting of the 15-member UN body on Wednesday to discuss the secretary-general's biannual report on the implementation of a 2015 resolution that enshrines the nuclear deal between Iran, the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China.
    “I appeal to the United States to lift or waive its sanctions outlined in the plan,” said the UN chief.

    He also underlined the need for the Iran deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as a way to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear deal.

    “I continue to believe that a full restoration of the Plan remains the best way to ensure that the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran remains exclusively peaceful,” Guterres noted.
    “I am encouraged by the recent diplomatic engagements taking place in and around the Joint Commission since April 2021 on the landmark agreement,” he pointed out.

    “In recent months, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has documented that the Islamic Republic of Iran has installed new and advanced centrifuges, including types IR-2m and IR-4, for uranium enrichment not foreseen in the Plan; has undertaken uranium enrichment up to 60 percent; and has begun research and development activities for the production of uranium metal for fuel for the Tehran research reactor,” the UN chief stated.

    The UN chiefs report came amid painstaking negotiations between Iran and the world powers in Vienna to restore the JCPOA. Diplomats from Iran and the U.S. as well as Europe are preparing for a potentially decisive round of talks this week in Vienna that is expected to result in a consensus to revive the JCPOA. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating team in Vienna, said on Sunday that the Vienna talks have almost reached their end and that the time has come for the negotiating parties to make decisions.

    Speaking after a briefing session with lawmakers, Araqchi said,

    “So far, six rounds of talks have been held with the P4+1, and we are almost close to the final stages. There is a series of issues that have been sufficiently negotiated and it is time for the countries to decide.”

    The top nuclear negotiator said Iran has already made tough decisions to remain in the JCPOA and now it’s Washington’s turn to face up to the moment of making tough decisions.

    “The Islamic Republic of Iran has already made tough decisions. When the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and Iran decided to stay in the JCPOA. It was Iran's big and difficult decision that led to the preservation of the JCPOA so far. Now it is the turn of the opposing parties, and according to the negotiations we had, they must decide and reach a conclusion on the revival of the JCPOA in order to reach an agreement,” Araghchi told Iranian state media after briefing lawmakers sitting on the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on the Vienna talks on Sunday.

    Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also noted that Iran did its part in terms of preserving the JCPOA and that it’s now up to the U.S. to make a decision to revive the nuclear deal.
    Speaking at his weekly press conference, Khatibzadeh said,

    “If the JCPOA is alive today, it is because of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and if today there exist such thing as the JCPOA, the implementation of which is being discussed, it is because of the decision that Iran made after the unilateral and illegal withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA and the inactions of the European parties.”

    He added, “Iran and the Iranian people have played their part in protecting the JCPOA and made the tough decision they had to make that year. Today is the time when the other side should know that it is present in the negotiations in the position of the culprit, and it is the side that has made every effort to destroy the JCPOA.”

    Everyone knows that if there is a reason for distrust of the United States, it is the hypocritical and bullying behavior of the United States. What is being discussed in Vienna is how to implement the JCPOA. We are not talking about its origin or its future. We are only talking about the implementation of the JCPOA and the return of the United States to the JCPOA.”

    The United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday was aimed to represent the body’s 11th report on implementing UNSCR 2231 about the Iran nuclear deal, Iranian state news IRNA reported.

    This is the first in-person meeting of the UNSC after the outbreak of coronavirus.

    In 2015, the P5+1 group (the U.S., the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany) and Iran signed a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program. The deal was designed to terminate economic and financial sanctions on Iran in exchange for putting restrictions on the country’s nuclear program. But nearly three years after the implementation of the deal, the former U.S. administration of Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal, imposing far-reaching sanctions on Iran and putting the JCPOA in real danger as Iran, a year after the U.S. withdrawal, started to gradually reduce its nuclear commitments under the deal.

    In recent months, Iran accelerated its nuclear activities such as enriching uranium up to 60% purity and installed new, advanced centrifuges the use of which were prohibited under the 2015 nuclear deal. With the coming of the Biden administration, Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA embarked on new negotiations on how to revive the deal."


    https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/462...ctions-on-Iran

  10. #85
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Perhaps you missed the last bit.

    In recent months, Iran accelerated its nuclear activities such as enriching uranium up to 60% purity and installed new, advanced centrifuges the use of which were prohibited under the 2015 nuclear deal. With the coming of the Biden administration, Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA embarked on new negotiations on how to revive the deal."
    The US is quite happy continuing with the negotiations.

    The US says it has carried out air strikes against Iran-backed militias near the Iraq-Syria border in response to drone attacks on its forces in Iraq.

    A Pentagon spokesman said the strikes targeted "operational and weapons storage facilities" at three locations.

    US strikes in Iraq and Syria target Iran-backed militia facilities - BBC News

  11. #86
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    The US is quite happy continuing with the negotiations.
    The only negotiations will be when ameristani politicians read what Biden has agreed to annul and their only question will be, "How much will you pay me for my vote?"

    It's their SOP.

  12. #87
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    The only negotiations will be when ameristani politicians read what Biden has agreed to annul and their only question will be, "How much will you pay me for my vote?"

    It's their SOP.
    You don't really understand who does what in the US politicial system, do you hoohoo?

  13. #88
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Qatar calls for IAEA inspection of Israel’s nuclear facilities

    16 June 2021

    "Qatar said on 12 June that all Israeli nuclear facilities should be made available for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect. Qatar’s Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisations in Vienna, Sultan bin Salmeen Al Mansouri, said Israel is the only state in the Middle East that refuses to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    “Qatar strongly supports the rule of law in international relations, as a basic guarantee for creating a peaceful and stable international environment that enhances opportunities for sustainable development for all peoples,” Al Mansouri told the IAEA Board of Governors.

    He added that “the goal of nuclear disarmament in accordance with international agreements and United Nations resolutions is one of the means to uphold the rule of law in international relations.” He called on Israel to cooperate with IAEA and open its nuclear facilities and atomic reactors to inspectors. In a statement, Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs said Al Mansouri “urged the international community and its relevant institutions to support the goal of freeing the Middle East from nuclear weapons, and to take practical steps to achieve that goal, based on its legal and moral responsibility”.

    Israel’s nuclear capabilities have been the subject of speculation since the 1960s, when it first started operating the Dimona nuclear reactor in the Negev desert. IAEA inspectors have never been permitted to inspect the Dimona site, although US inspectors were admitted between 1965 and 1969. Israel refuses to admit or deny that it is developing nuclear weapons. However, in 2003 various intelligence estimates put its stockpile at 100 to 200 nuclear warheads."

    Qatar calls for IAEA inspection of Israel’s nuclear facilities - Nuclear Engineering International

    How about:

    Iran should offer to open their nuclear facilities to international inspection with the prerequisite that Israel does the same, first.

    Iran should then offer to sign the biological and nuclear non-proliferation treaty’s with the prerequisite that ameristan and Israel does the same, first.

  14. #89
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    What do Qatar and Israel have to do with the JCPOA?

    Ah, that's right, nothing.

  15. #90
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    What do Qatar and Israel have to do with the JCPOA?

    Ah, that's right, nothing.
    Nothing, just with double standard...

  16. #91
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    JCPOA: A bridge too far?

    by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR August 2, 2021


    "On Tuesday, Ebrahim Raisi will be formally confirmed as Iran’s next president by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Two days later, he will be sworn in as president in the country’s parliament. Yet another orderly transfer of power is under way in Iran.

    This transition is of momentous importance for the future trajectory of Iran, regional politics and international security. That is because a rare confluence of circumstances has appeared over the Iran nuclear issue and a new mainstream is taking shape in Tehran.

    Contrary to expectations, the negotiations since April in Vienna over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) are in a state of suspended animation. Things could go either way.

    On the one hand, Raisi is widely regarded as an arch conservative (‘hardliner’) which means that the United States is getting a much tougher interlocutor in Tehran, although Iran’s compass remains well set under the watchful eyes of the Supreme Leader.

    On the other hand, the Biden presidency is coming under pressure with the early signs that the much-vaunted strong economic recovery from the deep recession in 2020 may be hitting a snag. The massive stimulus and the buoyant Wall Street haven’t fired up the economic acceleration but will inevitably drive up the inflationary pressure. The resurgence of the Delta variant of coronavirus from America’s south to north also bring in uncertainties.

    Simply put, President Biden cannot afford to be seen as a ‘weak’ negotiator at Vienna. Conversely, Tehran would sense that Biden may not even have the political capital to get Congressional approval for a new nuclear deal, which means that history may repeat.

    In fact, the US officials are already arguing that no American president can guarantee that an agreement with a foreign country will not be undone by a future president or Congress.

    Given the tortuous history of the US-Iran relations and the trust deficit, Tehran once again faces the dilemma of negotiating a deal with an uncertain shelf life whose expiry date may lapse even before the incumbent American president retires.

    Meanwhile, the US negotiators drove a hard bargain in Vienna. They underestimated Iran’s grit to secure its core interests. They assumed that given Iran’s economic difficulties, it would bend over backward to get the sanctions lifted. And they began dictating terms and conditions.
    Thus, from available details, Biden’s team insists that the US’ return to the JCPOA depends on potential future talks on regional issues; that the US cannot agree to the lifting of arms embargo as provided under the JCPOA; the present administration will not lift the sanctions imposed by Trump; the US is not obliged to compensate Iran for the huge damage caused to its economy by pulling out of the JCPOA unilaterally; Iran must agree to newer restrictions on its nuclear agreements far beyond those stipulated by JCPOA.

    The US remains ambivalent on Iran’s demand that any lifting of sanctions should be open to verification. And it believes that Iran will give up its longstanding position that the nuclear deal should not be made conditional on its missile programme or regional policies. read more

    Broadly, Biden team hopes to realise the key objectives that the Trump administration pursued — and failed to achieve — through its ‘maximum pressure’ strategy, namely, an updated version of the 2015 agreement that would, amongst other things, almost permanently prohibit Tehran from exercising its prerogative to conduct a peaceful nuclear programme as a non-nuclear weapon state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is entitled to, such as Japan. (In Brazil, another non-nuclear-weapons state, the military actually leases uranium enrichment technology to the civilian nuclear programme and the navy drives technological advances in the nuclear field, even developing a nuclear-powered submarine.)

    Evidently, serious differences remain between Iran and the US over the revitalisation of the JCPOA. The latest remarks by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken — “The ball remains in Iran’s court and we will see if they’re prepared to make the decisions necessary to come back into compliance” — blithely sidestepped this reality. So indeed, his veiled threat that “this (Vienna) process cannot go on indefinitely.”

    Khamenei, who has the last word on Iran’s state matters, declared last Wednesday that Tehran would not accept Washington’s “stubborn” demands in nuclear talks and again flatly rejected the insertion of any other issues to the deal. Khamenei’s remarks spell out the parameters within which Raisi will approach the negotiations in Vienna as and when they resume. read more
    In the coming weeks, Raisi will need to assemble his cabinet and thereupon get the Majlis’ approval for his nominees, especially the new foreign minister. That means, serious negotiations cannot resume in Vienna, if at all, before the fall.

    This is where Biden’s team probably goofed up by making such excessive demands on Iran that were way beyond the previous government’s mandate to discuss — predicated apparently on the naïveté that for President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif this was a legacy issue more than anything else. (Khamenei implicitly censured Rouhani and Zarif for their manifest eagerness to strike a deal with the Biden Administration.)

    Meanwhile, pressure is going to build on the Biden Administration, since Iran’s nuclear research and production are speeding up and the ‘breakout time’ for making a bomb may be shrinking dramatically.

    The New York Times noted, “Far more worrying, (US) officials said, is the scientific knowledge that Iran is steadily gaining by building more advanced centrifuges and experimenting with enriching uranium to 60 percent, just shy of what is needed for a weapon.”

    The point is, the IAEA inspectors are increasingly clueless since June when the agreement with Tehran to keep cameras and sensors running lapsed, as regards what is happening in the underground Natanz plant where the advanced centrifuges are spinning,.

    Above all, it is all but certain that Raisi’s team will be much tougher at the negotiating table and may even make new demands. Thus, there is the ‘X’ factor: Does the restoration of the JCPOA matter anymore? read more

    Having weathered the brunt of Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’, Tehran is in a better situation today. The international situation works in its favour too. Iran has gained strategic depth in the deepening partnership with Russia and China. It is neither possible now to ‘isolate’ Iran nor prudent to exercise the military option against it.

    Make no mistake, Raisi, who has welcomed the negotiations at Vienna, will insist on stricter verification and US implementation of its part of a revived agreement. That seems an irreducible minimum demand.

    Can Biden deliver on that? The Biden administration is showing signs of weakening. On the contrary, Raisi’s ascendance underscores great cohesion at the leadership level, something which has been lacking through successive presidencies since the 1990s.

    In such unequal situations, optics matter unduly in statecraft. For sure, the unresolved Iran question still lurks below the surface as the Biden presidency’s most dangerous foreign-policy challenge."

    https://www.indianpunchline.com/jcpoa-a-bridge-too-far/

    About Treaties

    "The Senate does not ratify treaties. Following consideration by the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Senate either approves or rejects a resolution of ratification. If the resolution passes, then ratification takes place when the instruments of ratification are formally exchanged between the United States and the foreign power(s)."

    https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-...s/treaties.htm

  17. #92
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    The US can just sit back and watch the mad mullahs trying to deal with nationwide civil unrest.

    All part of the negotiating process, something your silly Indian doesn't appear to understand as usual.

    Popping a few shots off at an Israeli ship, as they did this week, is not making any difference.

    The lowest electoral turnout since the election is a result of banning 600 of the 607 candidates and giving people only conservative lackies and hardline puppets to choose from.

    People are losing faith in the mad mullahs. They need a cash injection fast.

    And the people want reform and won't mind their silly bearded twats signing off JCPOA to get it.

  18. #93
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    People are losing faith
    Who are these "people"?

  19. #94
    Thailand Expat lom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Who are these "people"?
    The indigenous population of Amazonas, what did you expect?

  20. #95
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lom View Post
    The indigenous population of Amazonas, what did you expect?
    Don't worry, it's a normal pathetic hoohoo tactic.

  21. #96
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

    1980-06-10-2021

    "On October 6, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the initiative of the US side.

    The interlocutors exchanged opinions on prospects for resuming full-scale implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on settlement concerning the Iranian nuclear programme, and also discussed a number of current bilateral matters."

    https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/4880524

    Iran FM departs for Russia at Lavrov's invitation

    Oct 5, 2021, 4:20 PM

    "Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-abdollahian left Tehran for Moscow at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday afternoon.

    A delegation is accompanying the top the Iranian diplomat.

    The Russian government announced yesterday that the Russian foreign minister would meet with his Iranian counterpart in Moscow on October 6.

    According to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday, one of the topics of the meeting between the Iranian and Russian foreign ministers will be the situation in Afghanistan, including how to send aid for the reconstruction of the country."

    Iran FM departs for Russia at Lavrov's invitation - Mehr News Agency

  22. #97
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
    Iran FM departs for Russia at Lavrov's invitation

    So Russia phoned the US shitting itself about Afghanistan and got told to fuck off.

    Now it's hoping the Iranians can do something.

    The joys of regional realignment.


  23. #98
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    So Russia phoned the US, shitting itself about Afghanistan, and got told to fuck off.
    Edited into English.

    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    On October 6, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the initiative of the US side.
    My apologies for not including the NaGastan press release, here it is:
    Secretary Blinken’s Call with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov

    Readout


    Office of the Spokesperson


    October 6, 2021

    "The below is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:


    Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today. Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov agreed on the importance of a prompt return to mutual compliance by Iran and the U.S. with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The two sides additionally emphasized the importance of continued coordination on current topics in the bilateral relationship."

    Secretary Blinken’s Call with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov - United States Department of State
    There is zero reference to your opinion, in the NaGastani official press release.

    Do you have a link to your source, to share with us?

  24. #99
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Learn to read between the lines Hoohoo.

    It's not difficult.

    "Negotiations" continue.


  25. #100
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Iran to act as per other parties behavior in future talks

    Oct 12, 2021

    "Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tuesday Iran's action in the future talks will match the actions of other parties to the JCPOA. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the comments in a meeting with the visiting President of Swiss National Council Andreas Aebi in Tehran on Tuesday.

    Amir-Abdollahian said in the meeting that Iran will return to the Vienna talks in the near future when reviewing the previous rounds of talks is concluded.

    "Iran's actions in the future talks will match the actions of other parties to the JCPOA," the Iranian foreign minister added.

    The two sides also discussed other issues of mutual interest as well as regional and international developments.

    Regarding Iran's bilateral relations with Switzerland, the top Iranian diplomat pointed to the important potentialities of bilateral relations in the political, economic and cultural fields between the two countries to expand, saying that "the cooperation between small and medium enterprises of the two countries can be enhanced."

    He also stressed the need to hold a joint commission to increase cooperation between the two countries.

    Pointing to the good relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Switzerland and the parliamentary diplomacy between the parliaments of the two countries, as well as the role of parliaments in the all-out development of cooperation, Amir-Abollahain called the visit of Swiss parliament speaker as an important step to develop cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries.

    He also pointed to the situation in Afghanistan, saying, "Meeting the challenges posed by Afghanistan's developments in the fields of refugees, narcotics and terrorism require international cooperation."

    Andreas Aebi, for his part, expressed his satisfaction with his visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and described Iran as a country with a pivotal role in the region.
    He also pointed to the role that the Swiss Embassy in Tehran plays as the Interest Section for some countries and stressed the importance of strengthening this role.

    The Swiss official further hailed Iran for hosting and sheltering Afghan refugees.
    Regarding the nuclear talks, he also stressed his country's interest in playing a role in bringing the parties' views closer to each other.
    The latest developments in the talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as the developments in Yemen, were among the other topics discussed by the Iranian Foreign Minister and the President of the Swiss National Council."

    Iran to act as per other parties behavior in future talks - Mehr News Agency

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