TEHRAN (Iran News) –  Representatives from major world powers and Iran continued talks on the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Friday in Vienna, with the U.S. and Germany both expressing cautious optimism about the state of the ongoing negotiations.

“The United States team put forward a very serious idea and demonstrated a seriousness of purpose on coming back into compliance if Iran comes back into compliance,” a top U.S. State Department official in the talks told reporters Friday.

The official said the U.S. is now waiting for Iran to reciprocate its efforts.

What are European officials saying about the talks?

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas described the ongoing talks as “constructive.”

“All sides showed a willingness to work with the necessary sincerity towards the same goal — the full implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran,” Maas told German outlet RND in comments published on Saturday. “It won’t be easy. We are only at the beginning of intensive negotiations.”

EU diplomat Enrique Mora called the talks “constructive and results-oriented.”  Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said JCPOA participants “noted with satisfaction the initial progress made.”

Iran says U.S. must lift all Trump-era sanctions 

A tweet from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif earlier in the day urged Washington to return to “full compliance first.” He said “anti-JCPOA” sanctions implemented under former President Donald Trump must be removed.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said prior to Friday’s negotiations there “are signs that the U.S. is about to revise its position and lift sanctions.”

Although the United States was an original signatory to the deal in 2015, Trump ordered the country’s withdrawal from the agreement in 2018. The U.S. maintained a “maximum pressure” policy towards Iran during the Trump era, severing its connection to the global financial system.

President Joe Biden has previously said his administration would be unwilling to remove sanctions unless Iran ceases its uranium enrichment.

Negotiations in Vienna are slated to resume on Wednesday.

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Mohammad Khodadi made the remarks in reaction to a recent speech by Maas at German parliament (Bundestag), in which he had listed “repressive measures taken against journalists in Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Turkey and China” as “the serious consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak for human rights”.

In a similar instance of releasing erroneous, baseless and exaggerated information, Reporters Without Borders, also known by its French acronym RSF, published in April its annual ranking of countries based on the strength of their press freedoms last week, highlighting several countries – including Iran (ranked 173rd) and China (ranked 177th) – as states whose governments “censored their major coronavirus outbreaks extensively”.

RSF also failed to present the criteria for its ranking of the countries.

“My question is on what basis German officials are raising such an issue,” Khodadi added.

He said the German government’s source of information is disordered, adding either they had received erroneous information or failed to have any just seeking to adopt a stance without a source, which is wrong.

Khodadi also said he expected the German Embassy in Iran to, at least, provide Maas with real information and documentation.

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“At the moment the Britons would rather join an American mission. We won’t do that,” Maas told reporters on Monday, Reuters reported.

“We want a European mission,” he said, adding that the issue was not off the agenda but it would take time to convince the European Union to carry out such a mission.

The US Embassy in Berlin said on last Tuesday the United States had asked Germany to join France and Britain in a mission to supposedly protect shipping through the strait Germany rejected the request at the time.

Washington has lately adopted a quasi-warlike posture against Tehran, and intensified its provocative military moves in the Middle East, among them the June 20 incursion of advanced US-made RQ-4 Global Hawk into Iranian airspace over territorial waters off the coastal province of Hormozgan.

The UK has also joined the US in fueling tensions with Iran by seizing an Iranian-owned supertanker in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 in an apparent act of “maritime piracy.”

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Maas was in Tehran on Monday to discuss ways to preserve the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) following the US unilateral withdrawal and the imposition of sanctions on Tehran.

Mousavi went on to add, “since the agreement has several signatories, then all sides need to equally comply with their commitments. If they cannot do so, they need to understand that we can reconsider our commitments to the JCPOA with the use of mechanisms provided by this very agreement.”

“If our European friends are that much concerned over preserving the JCPOA, then they need to call on all sides to live up to their commitments. More than anyone, the European sides themselves need to live up to their own commitments,” Mousavi stressed.

“We suggest German foreign minister and others who are concerned over Iran’s recent JCPOA-related decisions to once again carefully study the Article 36 of the agreement and the basics of law,” Mousavi concluded.

On May 8, exactly a year after the US pulled out from the JCPOA, Iran revealed countermeasures to US’ withdrawal, giving the other remaining parties to the JCPOA 60 days to comply with their commitments, particularly those regarding Iran’s economic interests in the banking and energy sectors, before reducing portions of its own commitments to the agreement stage by stage.

Iran has stressed that for now, it has no intention to leave the JCPOA, and its decision on reducing commitments is still within the framework of the agreement, as confirmed by the latest report by the IAEA.

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“We concurred that dialog among regional countries is crucial,” noted Zarif, adding that the “cause of all tensions” was the ‘economic war’ waged by the Trump administration in the Middle East region.

Maas made an official visit to Tehran to discuss ways to preserve the JCPOA in the wake of US’ unilateral withdrawal and imposition of sanctions on Tehran. During his stay, he also held talks with President Hassan Rouhani, stressing the adverse impact of the US’ pullout from the nuclear deal on the region.

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He went on to refer to Iran’s efforts to establish stability in the region and fight terrorism, especially in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, saying, “Iran has always been positively effective in development of stability and security in the region, and the current security in the region is because of Iran’s efforts”.

On the nuclear deal, the President said, “With its unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA, the United States violated the agreement made between 7 countries, as well as the resolution of the Security Council, beginning terrorist acts in the region, but unfortunately, we have not seen any responsible, proper reaction by Europe towards the US”.

“With its unjust sanctions, the United States is moving in the path of economic terrorism and we believe that we have to stand up to those who deprive people of medicine and food,” he added.

Dr Rouhani also referred to the solemn promises by three European countries in the past one year, saying, “In the past one year, we have not seen any serious acts from the side of Europe despite fairly good political stance; therefore, we have to made decisions and act in a way that is beneficial for us, you and all countries and the region”.

He said, “The war that the US has started against Iran for the past one year will never be beneficial for anybody and the Iranian nation have proved in this time span that they will withstand these pressures and bullying behaviours”.

Iran could act based on Article 36 of the JCPOA after US’ withdrawal, but it waited for a year, said the President, adding, “We expect Europe to stand up to the United States’ economic terrorism against the Iranian nation, living up to its commitments under the deal”.

Stating that US’ move to prevent foodstuff and medicine from entering Iran are aimed at putting pressure on the people and create instability in the region, he said, “Security the region will never be achieved through pressurising and sanctioning the Iranian nation”.

“First, the origin of tensions in the region need to be identified precisely to let us reach a proper solution for regional problems,” he continued.

The President also said, “JCPOA was an important step for development of stability and security in the region, but with the US withdrawing from it and the other negotiators not living up to their commitments, how can we step towards more security in the region”.

Dr Rouhani added, “Today, JCPOA could be a basis for dialogue and diplomacy in the world, but because of the United States’ unilateral moves and the lack of commitments, it has turned into a factor for pessimism towards the principle of negotiations”.

The US’ wrong path of sanctioning the Iranian nation has made problems for many other countries as well, he said, adding, “Today, the main Iranian bodies and the nation ae more united and integrated than last year, and the US’ decisions have definitely not had any benefit for them and other countries, including the EU”.

“We have plans for running our country under any conditions, but we believe that there is still hope to save this agreement and the EU can play a positive role in this regard,” said Rouhani.

The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran also went on to describe the claims about Iran chasing nuclear weapons baseless and said, “This claim cannot be true with regard to the latest 15 reports by the IAEA, and more importantly, the Supreme Leader’s fatwa prohibiting nuclear weapons”.

The Islamic Republic of Iran wants Resolution 2231 of the UNSC and the JCPOA to be fully implemented, said Rouhani expressing hope that “EU member states, especially can play their constructive role in this regard”.

During the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Heiko Maas described Iran-Germany ties long-standing and friendly.

He expressed concerns over rising of tensions in the region because of extra-regional activities, saying, “The European Union and us favour ease of tensions in the region and will spare no effort in this regard”.

Describing the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA a wrong move, he said, “Germany has many disagreements with the US policies towards Iran, and we are trying to keep cooperating with other European countries, especially France and Britain, to safeguard the nuclear deal and live up to its commitments”.

On INSTEX, he said, “The European Union is unitedly trying to keep and develop economic cooperation with Iran”.

“Iran’s living up to its commitments under the nuclear deal one year after the US’ withdrawal shows this country’s wise, tactful leadership in international stages,” he said.

The German FM continued, “Those who are familiar with Iran’s history know it well that the strategy of maximum pressure on the Iranian nation will not yield any results”.

He said, “We believe that if the JCPOA ends, those who are seeking to escalate tensions in the region will seize the opportunity; therefore, I assure you that Germany is closely cooperating with its European allies to settle the problems and maintain the JCPOA”.

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“The US has announced economic war against Iran. This war is dangerous to the region, the world and international order. In our opinion, the US has targeted the Iranian nation, those who were supposed to benefit most from the JCPOA achievements,” he added.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has proved that it is committed to its international obligations and the reports of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have proved this,” he said, “However, the Islamic Republic is in charge of defending its nation’s rights as well, one of which is the right considered under the Article 36 of JCOPA.”

“Iran’s new taken measures are in accordance with Article 36 of the nuclear deal and we are ready to continue, halt, or return them regarding the commitment level of our partners towards implementation of JCPOA,” Zarif said.

Informing that the two sides have also openly discussed regional affairs in this meeting, the Iranian foreign minister hoped that the efforts done by Iran’s friends in Germany and 4+1 countries would bear fruit to preserve JCPOA.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his German counterpart Heiko Maas held a meeting in Tehran on Monday morning.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas arrived in Tehran on Sunday night for a one-day trip expected to focus on saving the 2015 nuclear deal after the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the agreement last year.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Zarif said that Germany is seeking to play a role in saving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and talks in Tehran with Maas will focus on this issue, adding that the German diplomat is unlikely to carry any special message to Iran during his upcoming visit.

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German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas arrived in Tehran on Sunday night for a one-day trip expected to focus on saving the 2015 nuclear deal after the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the agreement last year.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Zarif said that Germany is seeking to play a role in saving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and talks in Tehran with Maas will focus on this issue, adding that the German diplomat is unlikely to carry any special message to Iran during his upcoming visit.

Germany wants the continuation of JCPOA, he said, adding that all measures of Iran have been in line with the landmark deal. “As JCPOA requires from western countries, Iran should see the results of normalization of ties, not just the talks about normalization,” he added.

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He warned that miscalculations, misunderstandings and provocative acts will lead to unpredictable ramifications.

Escalation of tensions over the past few weeks has made European countries to take action in order to clear up misunderstandings and defuse tensions, he stated.

He went on to say that the Iran nuclear deal is worth attempting to be preserved.

Maas was scheduled to hold meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Salih to find ways out of the current critical conditions.

According to Germany’s Foreign Ministry, Maas and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, are slated to hold a meeting in Tehran on Monday.

Maas’s visit is an indication of the decision made by Berlin, Paris and London for preserving the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Earlier, in an interview with IRNA, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, “The German foreign minister will meet with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and President Hassan Rouhani, during his one-day tour to Iran.”

The spokesman also said that bilateral relations between Iran and Germany, regional and international developments and the nuclear agreement, are among the topics to be discussed during his trip to Iran.

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