TEHRAN (Iran News) – In reaction to a foreign media claim that an interim agreement has been proposed in Vienna, a source close to the Iranian negotiating team said that such an agreement was not on the agenda of Iran.
A source close to the negotiating team rejected the news released by foreign media that an interim agreement has been proposed in Vienna.
An interim agreement has never been on Iran’s agenda, and Iran will only accept a credible and lasting agreement, the source told the IRNA news agency on Saturday.
NBC in a report on Saturday claimed that Russia has offered Iran an interim nuclear deal to help revive the JCPOA.
As part of an effort to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran, Russia has discussed a possible interim agreement with Iran in recent weeks that would involve limited sanctions relief in return for reimposing some restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program, NBC News quoted two senior US official, one Congressional official, one former US official and four other people familiar with the discussions as claiming about the issue of lifting of unilateral US sanctions against Iran.
The sources said the U.S. is aware of Russia’s proposal to Iran, which comes as concern grows within the Biden administration that time is running out on negotiations between Iran and world powers over a full return to the 2015 nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, NBC claimed.
While the officials and people familiar with the discussions said Russia’s talks with Iran about an interim deal have been conducted with the knowledge of the US, senior Biden administration officials distanced the U.S. from the Russian effort, the report added.
The report comes as Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations announced on Friday that Tehran does not want an interim agreement, and according to NBC News, Iran has so far rejected the proposal presented by Russia, the officials and other people familiar with the discussions said.
The eighth round of talks on the removal of anti-Iranian sanctions began in Austria capital of Vienna on December 27 and the negotiators are busy turning ideas into words and sentences.
Meanwhile a senior Biden administration official said an interim “arrangement” is not under serious discussion.
“Though we cannot speak for any discussions that may have taken place between Russia and Iran, at this stage we are certain that no such interim arrangement is being seriously discussed,” the official said. “Regarding an interim deal, we will not negotiate in the press or comment on specific claims about the negotiations. Our timeline is based on a technical assessment of Iran’s nuclear progress rather than a temporal clock.”