TEHRAN (Iran News) Speaking during his weekly press briefing, Baghaei addressed the proposed Iranian text for the next round of nuclear talks and the possibility of reaching a temporary agreement. He said speculation surrounding negotiations is not unusual but cannot be confirmed, stressing that the technical details of any negotiation process are discussed inside the negotiation room. He added that a temporary agreement has no formal basis, noting that drafting negotiation texts is a joint process between the parties involved.

The spokesman reiterated that Iran is working to formulate its own views regarding the termination of what it describes as unjust sanctions and nuclear-related issues. He also said that Iran is well aware of the United States’ position, emphasizing that any negotiation must be a cooperative effort rather than one-sided pressure. Baghaei stressed that Iran remains committed to the diplomatic path because it believes in the legitimacy of its stance. He stated that Iran will continue negotiations as long as there is confidence that the process will lead to tangible results.

Regarding statements made by Rafael Grossi about inspections of nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Baghaei said Iran has no preconditions for IAEA visits. However, he distinguished between general cooperation with the agency and inspections of damaged facilities, explaining that there is currently no established inspection method for such sites.

Baghaei also commented on reports concerning a possible visit by Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, to Oman, stating that the report must be verified and that he has no confirmed information about the trip.

In response to the designation of European military forces as “terrorist” organizations by the European Union, Baghaei said Iran’s stance was based on a resolution passed by the Iranian parliament. He argued that the EU decision violated fundamental principles of international law and that labeling official military forces of a sovereign state is unacceptable. He added that European forces operating in the region would now be viewed differently, warning that the designation may have practical consequences.

Baghaei also discussed Iran’s proposal presented during a nuclear disarmament meeting in Geneva, noting that the initiative has been discussed for decades and aims to promote global nuclear disarmament in line with the goals of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He said nuclear-armed states have continued to expand and modernize their arsenals, arguing that public demands for implementation of non-proliferation commitments are growing.

Addressing questions about Iran’s confidence in resisting U.S. pressure, Baghaei said Iran’s confidence comes from its history, culture, and perception of its rightful position. He rejected the concept of “surrender” in Iran’s diplomatic approach, stating that Iranian society has historically resisted submission. From the perspective of international law, he said, the notion of forcing surrender contradicts global legal norms since all countries are equal members of the United Nations and international relations must respect state sovereignty.

Responding to claims about institutional disagreements between Iran’s foreign ministry and other national security bodies regarding negotiations, Baghaei said nuclear policy is implemented based on decisions made by the Supreme National Security Council, where all relevant institutions participate and express their views before final decisions are taken.

Regarding the potential adoption of the Additional Protocol, he said Iran previously implemented it voluntarily during the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action period. He added that any future voluntary commitment would depend on reciprocal steps related to sanctions relief. He described the protocol as a confidence-building instrument demonstrating the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.

Rejecting allegations that Iran is intentionally prolonging negotiations, Baghaei said the claim has no basis. He emphasized that Iran is willing to continue talks without interruption if necessary, noting that negotiations held every ten days are not ideal. He stated that diplomatic talks are only useful if they lead to concrete outcomes and argued that rational policy requires accelerating efforts to lift sanctions.

On relations with the Taliban authorities, Baghaei said Iran’s relations with Afghanistan are based on mutual respect and shared cultural and religious ties. He highlighted common concerns such as security, narcotics trafficking, and water resource management. He added that discussions regarding official recognition of the Taliban are political and sovereign matters that will be announced when a final decision is reached.

Baghaei also responded to statements by Israeli officials regarding alleged plans to confront the so-called “Shiite axis.” Using a Persian proverb meaning “a camel dreams of seeing sesame seeds,” he dismissed such claims. He stated that there is no distinction between Shiite, Sunni, Arab, or non-Arab populations in the policy of Israel. He further claimed that Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed ambitions for regional dominance, including references to territorial expansion ideas.

He warned that such rhetoric increases regional concerns about Israel’s intentions, urging countries in the region to cooperate more closely against what he described as dangerous strategic illusions before it becomes too late.

Baghaei also commented on statements suggesting that a better agreement than the 2015 nuclear deal is achievable. He said the primary duty of Iranian diplomacy is to secure the rights of the Iranian nation, emphasizing that any acceptable agreement must guarantee Iran’s nuclear and economic rights, including sanctions relief. He stated that building trust is possible if other parties seriously accept that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful, noting that no diversion toward weaponization has been observed.

Regarding U.S. sanctions, Baghaei said the purpose of sanctions has become increasingly explicit, arguing that Washington aims to create pressure on Iranian citizens in hopes of generating public unrest against the government.

Addressing reports about the escape of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria into Iraq, Baghaei said Iran remains concerned about any development that could encourage the expansion of terrorism in the region. He recalled the heavy costs paid by Iran, Iraq, and Syria in combating the extremist group and stressed that Iran has communicated its concerns to Iraqi authorities.

Concluding his remarks, the spokesman said Iran’s foreign policy focuses on protecting national interests while continuing diplomatic engagement. He reiterated that Tehran aims to avoid being distracted by secondary issues and will pursue negotiations that produce meaningful results.

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TEHRAN (Iran News)  Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esameil Baqaei says that the field of diplomacy, including any potential resumption of talks with the United States over the nuclear issue, is no easier than the battlefield.

Negotiation is a form of struggle and is no easier than the battlefield, Baqaei said in a phone interview with a state radio program on Saturday. “Diplomacy is not about pleasantries… it is a means of defending national interests.”

Baqaei’s comments come amid speculations that Tehran and Washington might resume negotiations over the nuclear issue, which were scuttled when the U.S. launched military strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites last month.

He noted that the diplomatic apparatus is equally responsible for safeguarding national interests, just as the Armed Forces are in defending the country against external aggression.

“Diplomacy is a continuous process, and we do not give up on securing our rights,” he added. “The international arena is not fair, but the diplomatic apparatus of Iran, as a member of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, remains committed to its responsibilities.”

Negotiation is a form of struggle and is no easier than the battlefield, Baqaei said in a phone interview with a state radio program on Saturday. “Diplomacy is not about pleasantries… it is a means of defending national interests.”

Baqaei’s comments come amid speculations that Tehran and Washington might resume negotiations over the nuclear issue, which were scuttled when the U.S. launched military strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites last month.

He noted that the diplomatic apparatus is equally responsible for safeguarding national interests, just as the Armed Forces are in defending the country against external aggression.

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The clock is ticking. And November 29 is approaching day by day. As the resumption date for the nuclear talks comes closer, Iran outlines in a clearer way its demands and conditions to revive the nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

During his Monday press briefing, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh laid out under what terms Iran would be ready to accept a U.S. return to the tattered deal.

Khatibzadeh said Iran would return to full compliance with the JCPOA if the U.S. does three things: Washington accepts responsibility for the JCPOA’s current state of affairs, removes all the Trump-era sanctions all at once, and provide guarantees that no U.S. administrations would repeat what the Trump administration did to the JCPOA.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian further clarified Iran’s position in a phone conversation with his British counterpart Liz Truss. “On Vienna talks, reiterated return by other parties to full implementation of obligations; lifting of all sanctions & verification; & guarantees,” Amir Abdollahian said on Twitter.

The Iranian foreign minister said the Vienna talks’ success is contingent on the removal of all sanctions, the return of all sides to their obligations, giving necessary assurances about the implementation of all talks’ results, and verification of actions by the other sides, according to a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry.

Whether the U.S. would remove all the sanctions imposed under Trump and provide guarantees that they won’t return again remains to be seen. But U.S. allies in Europe have a unique role to play in the days before the talks are resumed.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani is planning to pay visits to a number of European countries including the three countries that are signatories to the JCPOA – France, Germany, and the UK, collectively known as the E3.

Truss told Amir Abdollahian that the European troika is serious and eager about making progress in the Vienna talks. But eagerness per se is not enough.

Khatibzadeh said Bagheri Kani will explain Iran’s position on the nuclear talks during his European tour.

Commenting on the chief Iranian nuclear negotiator’s trip to the E3 countries, Khatibzadeh said, “Iran will not stop its retaliatory measures unless it is certain that unilateral, extraterritorial, and illegal U.S. sanctions will be lifted in an effective and verifiable manner with the necessary and objective guarantees.”

He then uttered a position possibly affecting the whole negotiation process. “Nothing will be agreed until everything is agreed,” Khatibzadeh warned.

This makes it all the more important for the E3 to draw on their coming meetings with Bagheri Kani to facilitate the Vienna negotiations if they want a swift conclusion of the next round.

Iran has already outlined its position and it will highly likely reiterate this position in the seventh round of talks. So, the Europeans can work from now to make the next round easy and increase the possibility of success. Bagheri Kani’s visit will provide them a genuine opportunity to directly hear from Iran and determine how to deal with the position of the new government of Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi.

In addition, the Europeans are responsible for the current “disarray” in the JCPOA, at least from the Iranian perspective. In his conversation with Truss, Amir Abdollahian referred to the state of the Iran nuclear deal, blaming the disarray on the U.S. He reiterated that some other signatories to the deal are also at fault over the current situation due to their irresponsibility and silence toward Washington’s actions.

Amir Abdollahian said the bulk of trade agreements between Tehran and London following the 2015 nuclear deal were not put into practice. He said that increasing trade and facilitating financial ties entail a more active role by London.

Iran made it clear that past experiences should not be repeated and the talks should be “result-oriented,” rather than protracted. At the end of the day, talks for talks are not in the cards in Tehran.

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Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said during the fourth round of nuclear talks, which lasted for two weeks, “good progress” was made in terms of moving ahead in the nuclear talks but a few key issues remain unresolved which means that the negotiating teams should return to capitals to make some decisions.

“After two weeks of negotiations, we will have a meeting to conclude, and then the delegations will return to the capitals for consultations,” Araghchi told Iran’s state media late on Tuesday.
He added, “There are a few key issues that need further review and decision-making in the capitals, and we hope that they will take place in the next few days and that we will be able to conclude on these issues in the next round of talks.”

According to Araghchi, intensive talks and meetings were held at all levels.  He said that Iran and its negotiating partners had bilateral and multilateral talks at expert and political levels. “During these discussions, we tried to reach a conclusion on the issues at stake, either to resolve the differences or to decrease them, and the result is that we are in a position where we can have a general conclusion,” he pointed out.

He continued, “There are some key issues that need to be resolved and there is agreement on the rest; the texts have been well written and so now is the time to go back to the capitals and have the final consultations and then continue the negotiations.”

Araghchi, along with a delegation of Iranian experts and diplomats, left Tehran for Vienna nearly two weeks ago to start the fourth round of talks over the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

So far Araghchi has held several bilateral and multilateral meetings with the P4+1 group of countries. The JCPOA Joint Commission also convened several times.
The European Union said on Tuesday that the Joint Commission will resume in a physical format on Wednesday, May 19, 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 EU said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Russian envoy to the Vienna talks Mikhail Ulyanov said “significant progress” was made in the latest round of Vienna talks. “I said that significant progress has been achieved, in my view. That is true. But unresolved issues still remain and the negotiators need more time and efforts to finalize an agreement on restoration of JCPOA,” Ulyanov said on Twitter.

Earlier, he noted that the negotiations are moving ahead but with difficulty.
“So far so good but not easy. The work on restoration of the JCPOA continues, including during this weekend,” the Russian diplomat said on Twitter.

He added, “The Vienna talks on JCPOA are conducted in various informal settings, as well as in the working groups on sanctions lifting, nuclear issues and practical measures to restore the deal. The drafting process is underway. If the need arises a Joint Commission can be convened.”

Diplomats from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries as well as the U.S. are in Vienna to discuss the measures needed to be taken to bring Tehran and Washington back into full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. Almost all parties to the negotiations said progress was made during the talks, though this progress did not amount to a complete revival of the JCPOA.

The fourth round of Vienna nuclear talks began in early May when negotiators from Iran and the P4+1 groups of countries as well as the U.S. returned to the Austrian capital after a short stay in capitals which included briefing and consultation meetings with senior officials.

Iran is in close contact with China and Russia as well as the three European signatories to the JCPOA. On Friday, Araghchi met with the Chinese envoy to the Vienna talks, Wang Qun. During the meeting, the two diplomats discussed the latest developments concerning the talks.

Also on Friday, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Russian Federation, Kazem Jalali, met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. The meeting focused on the current situation surrounding the nuclear deal. The two sides also stressed the importance of coordination and efforts of all members of the JCPOA for a sustainable implementation of the nuclear deal in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.

During the meeting, Jalali praised Russia’s “principled and rational stance in support of the JCPOA and UNSC Resolution 2231 and its opposition to the illegal U.S. actions and sanctions” against Iran.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of Iranian lawmakers called for a “100%, real” removal of the U.S. sanctions on Iran.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, 200 out of the Parliament’s 290 lawmakers renewed emphasis on Tehran’s demand for a “real removal of all the sanctions and a rigorous verification of this [process].”

It referred to the imperative as “the essential condition for Iran’s commitment to its nuclear obligations,” according to Press TV.

The lawmakers further pointed out that any talks between Iran and the other countries about the matter could only be judged as productive if they enabled the Islamic Republic to “draw true economic benefits” from the JCPOA.

They, therefore, strictly ruled out any partial removal of the sanctions that could retain some of the economic pressure on the Iranian nation.

“The U.S. should be completely, verifiably, and irreversibly disarmed of the sanctions weapon,” they said. “If the sanctions are not removed 100 percent, it is as if none of them has been lifted.”

The MPs regretted that the quality of the talks so far have shown that neither the United States nor its European allies in the deal — the UK, France, and Germany — have displayed serious determination for removing the bans.

The allies were even trying to impose further restrictions on Iran and pave the way for putting the Islamic Republic’s defensive and regional influence up for discussion, the statement said.

However, succumbing to the enemies’ excessive demands stands to afflict serious damage on the country’s nuclear program and its achievements, the lawmakers underscored.

They said nuclear activities had contributed to the country’s economy in areas such as clean energy and environmental protection, pharmaceutics, and agriculture.

Last week, a group of Democrats in the U.S sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden urging him to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Fifty-three Democratic Party leaders said they have “strong support” for an initiative in the Biden administration to return to the JCPOA, which former President Donald Trump quit.

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Representatives from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries – Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany – convened another meeting in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Saturday with the purpose of ensuring the United States’ return to the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and the lifting of Washington’s sanctions against Tehran.

The participants reviewed the outcomes of the talks held between the sides in recent days and received relevant reports prepared by expert groups.

They also agreed to hold another session of the JCPOA Joint Commission in the future if necessary.

Expert groups of both sides have held technical talks in parallel with the negotiations.

The EU said in a statement earlier on Saturday before the meeting that participants were expected to “take stock of the ongoing discussions on the prospect of a possible return of the United States to the JCPOA and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA by all sides.”

The Joint Commission was chaired on behalf of EU High Representative Josep Borrell by the Deputy Secretary General/Political Director of the European External Action Service, Enrique Mora.

Speaking to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) before the beginning of the talks, the Iranian chief nuclear negotiator said the consultations would continue within the framework of working groups as well as mutual and multilateral meetings.

Abbas Araqchi added that the Saturday session of the JCPOA Joint Commission would aim to review the latest developments in nuclear talks, discuss reports prepared by the working groups and make necessary decisions about ways to continue the work, how fast the talks should proceed and issues that need to be settled.

Araqchi, who is also an Iranian deputy foreign minister, said on Thursday that Tehran does not seek protracted negotiations on the fate of the JCPOA, warning that the country would take action if the talks are not constructive.“We are not after talks of attrition and the negotiations that are only time-consuming and aimed at [holding] talks for the sake of talks,” he said.

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Iran’s next fiscal year begins on March 21, 2020, and the budget allocated for it was dedicated to Parliament recently.

“The next year’s budget is not dependent on negotiation; instead it has been drawn up based on the continuation of sanctions (on the country),” the president pointed out.

Rouhani’s remarks came in a ceremony marking Student Day at Farhangian University in Tehran.

Student Day marks the anniversary of the murder of three students in the University of Tehran on December 7, 1953 (known as Azar 16 in the Iranian calendar) by police in the Pahlavi era. Every year there are local gatherings at many universities organized by students to commemorate the day.

‘Rulers should be criticized otherwise deviation is possible’ 

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said that criticism will awaken the authorities about existing inefficiencies, noting that a straight meaningful criticism will prevent a ruling system from deviation.

“We welcome constructive criticism. Authority should be criticized, otherwise, its deviation is possible,” the president said, adding, “The country needs a university student who criticizes the officials candidly, meaningfully and bravely.”

“A university student, as a person who seeks reality, should criticize the authority. We must state the realities, but, we should not label (others),” Rouhani added.

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