TEHRAN (Iran News) – The two-day talks on the future of the JCPOA and return of the U.S. to the deal held in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, after almost 3 months of hiatus and the talks ended with different interpretation from the outcome.
Following two days of fresh negotiations in Doha aimed at reviving the ailing 2015 deal, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said Tehran will “coordinate” with the European Union on the next stage of the talks.
“Our team is ready to engage constructively to reach a deal,” Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in a post on his Twitter account after he delivered a speech at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday.
The top Iranian diplomat added that the sides to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), can reach a final agreement on the revival of the multilateral agreement in case of the US acts realistically and shows seriousness.
“If US acts realistically & shows serious intention to implement its obligations, agreement is not out of reach,” Takht-Ravanchi said.
The Doha talks started on Tuesday, in a high-stakes diplomatic process aimed at breaking the stalemate in efforts to restore the JCPOA, with EU coordinator Enrique Mora shuttling between Iran’s top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani and Robert Malley, the U.S. special envoy for Iran.
After the talks ended, Western parties expressed their disappointment over the outcome of the Doha talks but at the same time Iranians claimed that talks will go on in the future. As Takht-Ravanchi reiterated Tehran wants talk and will coordinate with European signatories in the JCPOA and it means the talks have not totally failed and the results depend on the U.S. political will to accept or leave it.
The two-day negotiations in the Qatari capital to discuss how to remove sanctions on Iran have ended, with the two sides saying they will keep in touch “about the continuation of the route and the next stage of the talks”.
But when Tehran says it will coordinate it does not mean that it will bow down to the West’s pressure to accept whatever they put on the table and Iranians sign it. No. They are totally wrong.
Tehran will not retreat from its rights any inch and it will not give in the West’s bully and it will fight for its legal right.
On Thursday, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations told a Security Council briefing on the Iranian nuclear issue that the United States, whose unilateral withdrawal has caused numerous problems, must respond positively to the reasonable demands of Iran.
“As the initiator of the Iranian nuclear crisis, the United States should face up to its responsibility, correct its mistake once and for all, make a political decision as soon as possible, and take concrete measures to respond positively to the reasonable demands of Iran,” Zhang Jun said.
This point is very crucial for advancing the talks and as long as Iran’s rights are not observed by the West, signing any deal or observing the JCPOA obligations would be meaningless.
Pointing to Washington’s double standards on Iran, Zhang said the U.S. has repeatedly expressed its readiness to return to compliance as per the JCPOA but it is nevertheless ramping up sanctions against Tehran and third parties even during the process of talks.
“Doing so is obviously detrimental to any positive progress in the talks. The United States should live up to its words and lift all relevant unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction measures against Iran, so that Iran can fully partake of the economic dividends of the JCPOA,” the Chinese diplomat said.
The Islamic Republic welcomes talks for resolving the issue but it does not mean it is ready to accept unilateral and excessive demands of the U.S. and this is Washington which should be blamed for the current saga. Iranian negotiating team will fight for the rights of the nation and will not give any concession under excessive demands of the U.S.
So once for all, the West and above all the U.S. should wisely decide and take a logical and fair decision for continuing the talks otherwise it will be waste of time and prolongation of the talks that none of the negotiating parties would benefit it. The U.S. should stop blaming Tehran for prolongation of talks and it is better to blame itself for unilateral withdrawal from the deal and decision for return to it. Americans are not in a position to impose their excessive demands on Iranians because now the game and condition has changed and the Islamic Republic has upper hand in the talks and it seeks a win-win deal not a mere victory for the West. We Iranians say no pain no gains and we are ready to gain more scientific achievements although we may suffer a bit but as we are the final winners and bright future is ahead.
