The 67th Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference will be held from 25 to 29 at the Vienna International Centre (VIC).

Eslami is expected to deliver a speech at the conference on Monday morning, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Also, the head of the AEOI will hold a meeting with IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi and pay a visit to an Iranian nuclear exhibition in Vienna. He is also expected to meet the nuclear officials of other countries.

Eslami’s trip to Vienna comes amid differences between Iran and the IAEA over cooperation. Recently, the IAEA said Iran withdrew the designation of “several experienced Agency inspectors” and barred them from conducting inspections.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has reacted to the statement by Grossi on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s move to withdraw the designation of a few experienced inspectors of the agency.

Kanaani said, “Unfortunately, despite the Islamic Republic of Iran’s positive, constructive and continuous interaction with the agency, three European countries and the United States, within their excessive demands, took advantage of the atmosphere in the Board of Governors for their own political goals with the aim of ruining the atmosphere of cooperation between Iran and the agency,” according to a statement by the Iranian foreign ministry.

He added, “Iran had already raised the alarm over the repercussions of such political abuses, including attempts to politicize the atmosphere of the agency.”

The spokesman for the Iranian diplomatic service emphasized that the recent move by Iran was based on its sovereign rights stipulated in Article 9 of the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement between Iran and the IAEA (INFCIRC 214).

He said the Islamic Republic of Iran expects Western countries to refrain from the policy of abusing international organizations, including the IAEA, and let the organizations carry out their professional and impartial activities away from political pressures.

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On Monday, the Iranian negotiating team returned to Tehran after concluding intensive talks on a set of thorny issues that have long awaited a U.S. political decision. During the talks, Iran presented its views and relative progress was made regarding some issues, according to a senior Iranian foreign ministry official.

On the last day of negotiations, Enrique Mora, the EU coordinator for the talks, presented some ideas to all parties. Iran offered its preliminary response and said the final response was only possible after a thorough review of the ideas. “Such issues need to be studied thoroughly and we will give our final response to the coordinator of the Vienna talks and other sides,” the Iranian official said.

While there were still outstanding issues, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced the end of negotiations, a move that raised eyebrows in Tehran and elsewhere.

“What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals,” Borrell said on Twitter on Monday.

He added, “If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal.”

Borrell didn’t mention Iran by name but Western media, citing diplomatic sources, reinforced Borrell’s narrative that the text presented by the EU was not renegotiable and that Iran had to accept it. This is while Iran had told its negotiating partners that it needs to study the text thoroughly. In other words, Iran does not believe what has been presented by the EU is a final text.

Nour News, a website close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, took a jab at the EU for portraying its “proposals” as a “final text.”

“The European Union, as the coordinator for the talks, cannot introduce its proposals as a ‘final text’ because making decisions in this regard is only in the hands of the negotiating parties,” Nour News said, noting that the Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the existing text as a final one.

It added, “No other official can speak of a final text when the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a major party to the negotiations, does not recognize the existing text as the final deal.”

By speaking about the finalization of the draft deal, the West seeks to create a narrative that the draft deal is not negotiable and that the two sides should give their final response, according to Nour News.

The website said this approach is unacceptable and totally contradicts the principles of negotiations.

Pundits believe Borrell’s presentation of the final text could aim to put pressure on Iran to agree to what has been negotiated so far. The U.S. quick approval of Borrell’s text has led some pundits to believe that the text was already coordinated with the U.S.

The EU text is also controversial from another point of view. Nour News said Borrell’s text was an “effort to create a special status and role” for the European Union in the Vienna talks, one that “has never been approved by the two sides of the negotiations.” In other words, the sole role of the EU is to coordinate the talks, not to present proposals.

It seems that the EU has sought to fill the vacuum left by the absence of the E3 negotiators in the recent round of talks.

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Amir Abdollahian made the remarks in a telephone conversation with European Union’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell.

During the phone talks, Borrell said that the demands Iran had at Vienna talks have been mostly incorporated in the deal being hammered out in the Austrian capital.

Amir Abdollahian and Borrell discussed the Vienna talks that aim to get anti-Iran sanctions lifted.

“We believe that Iran’s demands have been mostly met in the future agreement,” Borrell said.

Borrel added that he, as the coordinator of the talks between Iran and the P4+1 group, would like to declare that the negotiations are making progress and headed for a final deal.

Amir Abdollahian also thanked the high coordinator of the EU in the Vienna talks. He said Iran is ready for finalizing a good and immediate deal.

Amir Abdollahian however noted that the rush on the part of the Western side will not cause Iran to cross its red lines, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

The Iranian foreign minister also welcomed a finalization of the agreement as soon as possible. He added that the prerequisite for the presence of foreign ministers and the announcement of a final deal is contingent upon respecting the red lines of Iran, including effective economic guarantees.

Amir Abdollahian noted that top Iranian negotiator Ali Bagheri and senior experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran will remain in Vienna for active consultations with all delegations and that the Iranian negotiating team will seriously continue efforts to reach a final and good agreement.

The top Iranian diplomat also said he is ready to fly to Vienna once the Western parties accept the remaining red lines declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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However, it should be noted that what is happening in the negotiation rooms are a whole lot different from the Western media narratives.

As Iranian officials have repeatedly stated, Iran’s red lines in the ongoing talks to remove the sanctions imposed on Iran are crystal clear, and Tehran refuses to back down from its demands. But the Westerners seem reluctant to consider this obvious fact.

What the E3 (France, UK, and Germany) and their mainstream media refuse to narrate is that Iran has shown the required flexibility throughout ten months of intensive negotiations. Yet, this flexibility has not been portrayed from their side in response.

Negotiation is a process of give and take, and the European troika must know that the era of bullying is over. They cannot have their way at any cost, as Iran seeks to reach an agreement that will preserve the rights of its citizens.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian stated on Tuesday that under no circumstances will the negotiators cross Iran’s red lines.

The foreign minister added, “At the same time, we consider the necessity of any negotiation to be useful and that there should be conceivable benefits for the great nation of Iran in the negotiations.”

The message Iran has sent is loud and clear, but there is an ambiguity here, regarding the Westerners’ reluctance to hear the clear message of Iran.

In this regard, Amir Abdollahian said on Tuesday, “We hope that the few sensitive and important issues remaining in the talks will be resolved in the coming days with the realism of the West. Let us believe that the results of the efforts made in the past 9 months be that all parties will adhere to their full obligations under the 2015 nuclear agreement.”

The Qatari newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed reported on Tuesday that the most important remaining issues mostly center on the scope of sanctions relief and the way to lift the sanctions in addition to other issues pertaining to disagreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Citing sources familiar with the talks, the newspaper said the U.S. is still insisting on some sensitive sanctions that, if not lifted, would lessen Iran’s benefits from any deal.

The sanctions in question need political decisions by the Biden administration.

The U.S. is yet to make such decisions and therefore a deal remains unlikely in the foreseeable future. This comes at a time when heads of delegations are preparing for a break for consequential consultations in capitals. Before the current round of talks, Iran had made all the necessary political decisions to move ahead with the talks. Therefore, it’s unlikely that the break would result in a change in Iran’s decisions.

There is little doubt that the ball is in the E3 and the United States’ court. Iran made a great political decision in May 2018, and that was remaining in the internationally recognized 2015 nuclear deal despite United States’ illegal and unilateral withdrawal from the agreement.

The amount of strategic patience and resistance Iran showed was unbelievable, even to the West. Now it is the United States’ turn to make a tough political decision.

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The meeting between Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani and Russian representative Mikhail Ulyanov began on Sunday noon (UTC+3:30), IRNA reported.

The meeting was also attended by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari, who joined the Vienna talks on Saturday.

As the teams in Vienna have agreed, the Joint Commission of the JCPOA is not going to convene and the negotiators will only have bilateral and multilateral meetings, according to IRNA.

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Amir Abdollahian described the issue of getting guarantees as “a basic” one and said that Iran’s negotiating delegation in Vienna is seriously seeking to get “tangible guarantees” and bring the Western side back to compliance with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The foreign minister made the remarks during a visit to the shrine of Imam Khomeini on Saturday.

He also said that Iran has partly succeeded in securing some economic and political guarantees.

“What the Iranian negotiating team is seeking at all levels is political, legal and economic, in parts of which agreements have been reached, but still the Iranian negotiating team is serious about taking a tangible guarantee from the Western side,” he said, according to state news agency IRNA.

He added, “We have made it clear to the American side, which conveys messages through intermediaries these days, that they must show their good faith in action. Goodwill in practice, in our view, is something tangible happening on the ground.”

The Iranian foreign minister noted, “The lifting of some of the sanctions, in an objective and real sense, can be a translation of the goodwill of the Americans of which they talk. What is happening on paper is good but not enough.”

In a recent phone call with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa on Thursday morning, the Iranian foreign minister said Tehran stands ready to reach a good, lasting and reliable agreement in Vienna.

The talks will resume in the next few days after a weeklong break that was meant for consultations in capitals.

Iran has assessed the situation in Vienna as “forward-moving” and “positive” but it said the ball is in U.S.’s court in terms of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

The heads of delegations of Iran and the P4+1 group of countries as well as the U.S. are planning to return to Vienna soon. Before returning to the Austrian capital, Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani briefed the members of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on the latest developments in the Vienna talks.

After the briefing, Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, the spokesman for the Committee, said the time is ripe for reaching a good and win-win deal on the condition that the West shows seriousness and goodwill.

Speaking to the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), the spokesman gave some details about the Tuesday meeting that the Committee members held with Baqeri Kani.

During the session, the spokesman said, a report on the Vienna negotiations has been presented and the questions of the lawmakers have been answered.

According to Meshkini, Bagheri Kani assessed the negotiations process positively and said that Iran is participating in the talks with goodwill and seriousness.

Bagheri also pointed out that Iran and the U.S. have not held any direct talks so far, the lawmaker said.

Meshkini said that the Committee concluded from the session that basically the results of direct negotiations with the U.S. are not clear.

“Although there are signs of progress in the Vienna talks, still there are outstanding issues that need to be negotiated and dealt with,” he said.

Iran is entitled to enjoy full sanctions removal but the other side has so far accepted partial removal of sanctions, the lawmaker added.

Meshkini noted there are indications that the current conditions for a good and win-win deal have been provided on the condition that the West shows seriousness and goodwill.

The remarks came days before the return of Bagheri Kani and other delegations’ heads to Vienna, meaning that Iran is making clear that making further progress in Vienna or conclusion of the talks rest on seriousness and flexibility on the part of the U.S.

Iran has already said that it is in no rush to make a deal, though it prefers to achieve a good agreement as soon as possible. Basically, the pace is not as important to Iran as substance.  Furthermore, some believe Iran is not in urgent need of a deal as much as the U.S.

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With the Vienna talks kinking in again, Iran has moved to voice its expectations from other parties, especially the European trio – France, Germany and Britain (E3). During the last round, the E3, particularly France, played an unconstructive role in the talks, preventing the negotiators, at least in one case, from hammering out a document that was to serve as the basis for the next round of talks.

The first round of talks under President Ebrahim Raisi began in late November. Since then, two rounds have been held with the current round being the third or based on the European perception, the eighth.

During the two last rounds, Iran presented two proposals on nuclear and sanctions-related measures despite a Western accusation of not being serious and playing for time. The Europeans first rejected the Iranian proposals though they were drafted in strict conformity with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But then were forced to incorporate the Iranian proposals into the two final documents reached at the end of the last round.

A source familiar with the talks told Iran’s state news agency IRNA that France played a “disruptive” role in the previous round. According to the source, when the French delegation was absent from the talks due to France’s participation in the G7 ministerial summit in Liverpool, “significant progress” was made on preparing the drafts. But the French representative returned to the talks after a two-day absence and “a disruptive trend started again,” according to the source.

The source said the drafts were acceptable to all parties but the French negotiators opposed the drafts and “the course of the talks was disrupted.”

In addition to the French unconstructive role, the Europeans, together with the U.S., sought to create a sense of urgency by announcing self-imposed deadlines. Iran, however, said that it will not fall into the trap of “factitious deadlines.” Quoting a source with knowledge about the talks, IRNA said Iran’s negotiating team will stay in Vienna as long as there is a need.

Iran has also positively engaged in the talks and some progress was made in the nuclear sphere which is germane to Iran. But little has been achieved on the sanctions issue on which the U.S. should play a major role. Despite overall progress, the Europeans tend to portray the atmosphere in Vienna as gloomy. The Western parties are trying to keep the media environment around the talks negative by issuing statements and comments on the content of the talks, in order to put pressure on the Iranian delegation to get concessions, and on the other hand to blame Iran for the possible lack of progress.

This is while Iran has positively engaged and that the ball is in the West’s court. But instead of engaging positively, the West continues to foster an atmosphere of urgency regarding the JCPOA.

Recently, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that the window is closing to resuscitate the 2015 deal. “I’m not going to put a time limit on it or give you the number of meters remaining on the runway, except to say, yes, it is getting very, very, very short,” Blinken said.

U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley set the time frame to save the JCPOA at “weeks.”

Some observers believe that if the U.S. believes there is an urgency to reach a deal with Iran, then it should relinquish the so-called “maximum pressure” campaign initiated by former U.S. President Donald Trump. But the Biden administration not only refused to give up the campaign but also added to the sanctions on Iran. Furthermore, U.S. officials even began threatening Iran with a military option in case diplomacy failed. U.S. and Israeli officials have held talks to discuss “alternatives.” Some believe that Israeli-American talk of other options reflects a strategic confusion on the past of Washington and Tel Aviv vis-à-vis Iran’s measured and calibrated moves on the ground and at the negotiating table.

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The Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was held at the luxurious Palais Coburg hotel in Vienna on Friday evening, marking the end of nearly three weeks of painstaking negotiations over how to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The current round of talks began on November 29 after a five-month hiatus and continued for three weeks with a week-long interval happening in the middle of the talks.

Before the resumption of the negotiations, the western side launched a concerted media campaign to set the stage for a one-sided negotiation. To this end, they accused Iran of not being serious, and when Iran’s seriousness became clear through two draft proposals on sanctions- and nuclear-related measures, they portrayed Iran’s position as maximalist and unrealistic.

In reality, however, it was the European positions that were maximalist and far-fetched. The Europeans presented demands that fall beyond the scope of the JCPOA. In other words, they came to Vienna not to revive the JCPOA of 2015 but to reach the JCPOA of 2021.

In contrast, Iran fiercely tried to limit the scope of negotiations to only reviving the original JCPOA without any addition or deduction. Iran’s twofold proposal was drafted in strict conformity with the terms of the JCPOA and had nothing to do with non-nuclear issues.

At first, the Europeans rejected the Iranian proposal outright. But when they failed to get Iran budged, they agreed to take into consideration the Iranian drafts.

After the end of the current round, the European Union deputy foreign policy chief, Enrique Mora, said parties to the Vienna talks now somehow have a “common base” on the removal of sanctions, suggesting that the Iranian viewpoints have been incorporated into the new document reached at the end of the talks.

“Now we have a common basis though not entirely there on sanctions lifting chapter but that bit has a different internal logic so no big deal. Hope that clarifies why next is 8,” Mora tweeted on Saturday.

Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, confirmed this in remarks right after the end of the talks on Friday. He said the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the E3, intimately agreed to accept Tehran’s viewpoint as a basis for “serious, result-oriented” talks, according to Press TV.

Bagheri Kani said Iran and the P4+1 group of countries reached “two new documents for talks both on the issue of sanctions and on the nuclear issue.”

During the talks, Iran showed a number of goodwill measures most notably of which was allowing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to install surveillance cameras at a centrifuge manufacturing facility in Karaj. The decision put an end to a months-long grumbling by the IAEA and streamlined the Vienna negotiations.

In addition, Iran announced that its proposals are mere drafts subject to negotiations, a move that paved the way for more business-like interactions in Vienna.

Iran’s constructive positions, however, were met with European stonewalling and blame game. At the end of the latest round, the Europeans sought to downplay the progress made and upped the ante by underlining that time is running out for reaching a deal with Iran.

“There has been some technical progress in the last 24 hours, but this only takes us back nearer to where the talks stood in June,” the E3 negotiators said in a statement, describing the break as “a disappointing pause in negotiations.”

“We hope that Iran is in a position to resume the talks quickly, and to engage constructively so that talks can move at a faster pace,” the European statement added. “There are weeks not months before the JCPOA’s core non-proliferation benefits are lost. We are rapidly reaching the end of the road for this negotiation.”

The next round is expected to be held later this month. Some parties expressed hope that it would be the last round. Iran, for its part, did not rule out the possibility that the next round would be the last one depending on the western parties showing the will to reach an agreement with Iran.

Bagheri Kani said the pace of reaching an agreement depends on the will of the opposite side, adding, “If the other side accepts the rational views and positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the new round of talks can be the last one and we can achieve a deal in the shortest possible time.”

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Addressing Iranian ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad on Saturday, President Raisi said Tehran definitely pursues such an agreement.

“The fact that we presented the text of Iran’s proposal to the negotiating parties shows that we are serious in the talks, and if the other side is also serious about the removal of sanctions, we will achieve a good agreement. We are definitely after a good agreement,” he said.

Last week, Iran submitted two draft proposals to the other parties concerning the removal of sanctions and Tehran’s nuclear commitments, but the Europeans requested a break to take them to their capitals for discussion.

The talks resumed on Thursday, with Iran’s top negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, stressing that Tehran is sticking to the stance it laid out last week.

Rasi said the brutal U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic are mainly economic-based and the enemy’s strategy is to keep and expand the shadow of these sanctions on the Iranian nation, adding Iran should primarily focus on defusing and breaking the impact of the bans.

He underlined that his administration is doing its best to thwart the effect of the sanctions and our decision in the fields of oil sales and financial resources are geared toward managing the country in case the sanctions continue.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president pointed to a serious effort to establish better ties with neighboring countries, insisting that Tehran needs to develop a correct view about its borders and look at its neighbors as opportunities, not threats.

Emphasizing the significance of developing strong economic ties with neighboring nations, Raisi further underlined that establishing ties with Israel can neither bring security to the occupying regime, nor to the states of the region.

He added that maintaining good relations with regional countries is what will culminate into security in our region.

Raisi described foreign authority as an extension of domestic authority and said, “We believe that relations with neighboring countries should be stable. Everyone knows that the connection with the Zionist Regime by some countries in the region does not provide security for them. Wherever the Zionist Regime has infiltrated, the host country has suffered. Countries in the region can contribute to security and peace by interacting with the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

The President emphasized, “All hardships we have is because of the presence of outsiders in the region. NATO and the United States have been in Afghanistan for 20 years, but the people of this country have not felt peace for a day”.

Stating that there is an infrastructure of economic relations with neighbors, Raisi said, “Deep knowledge of domestic capabilities is very important for the missions of the Islamic Republic of Iran abroad and they should introduce Iran’s scientific and technical capabilities to the world”.

Emphasizing that we are determined to pursue a policy of interaction with our neighbors, the President said, “Today, the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran are economically based. The strategy that the enemy is pursuing is to put Iran under sanctions, but we are pursuing two steps of lifting them and neutralizing them”.

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“We are all in Vienna to negotiate to reach a good agreement,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote in a post on his Instagram page on Thursday night, hours after a new round of talks kicked off in the Austrian capital between Iran and the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal.

“The Western parties need to know that in the last eight years, enough words and empty promises have been uttered, but today, it is time to act,” Amir-Abdollahian noted.

Since April, Vienna has been hosting negotiations on a revival of the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which would require the U.S. to remove its anti-Iran sanctions three years after Washington walked out of the JCPOA and slapped the bans on Iran to kill the deal.

Rejecting those concerns, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran’s nuclear program is completely peaceful, but added that there is a direct link between the removal of US sanctions and Iran’s decision to assuage the concerns.

“Although we doubt whether the Western side is ready to remove the sanctions or it only seeks to unilaterally ease its own concerns, we will certainly see quick progress in the talks if the Western side attends the negotiations with goodwill, initiatives, and constructive ideas,” the chief Iranian diplomat added.

Meanwhile Iran’s top negotiator in Vienna talks on the removal of sanctions imposed on the country says the Islamic Republic is serious about taking part in the negotiations in the Austrian capital, but insists on the positions it declared during previous meetings.

Ali Bagheri Kani made the remarks following the end of a meeting of Iran’s nuclear deal’s joint commission meeting in the Austrian capital on Thursday, which marked the resumption of the talks six days after they were paused.

“Iran underlined that it seriously continues the talks based on its previous position,” the Iranian lead negotiator told reporters on Thursday, adding, “Iran is serious about reaching an agreement if the ground is paved …. The fact that all sides want the talks to continue shows that all parties want to narrow the gaps.”

After the Thursday meeting, Bagheri Kani said the participants, including Iran, presented their views on the process of upcoming meetings.

Iran’s top negotiator underlined the country’s resolve to bring the talks into fruition, saying, “The Islamic Republic of Iran does not see any obstacle to reaching an agreement if the necessary ground is provided.”

Asked whether the other parties responded to Iran’s proposals, which were put forth last week under two draft texts, the lead Iranian negotiator said the issue needs to be pursued through the meetings of the working groups, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

The two draft texts address, separately, the removal of US sanctions and Iran’s nuclear actions. Iran says it is preparing a third draft text on the verification of the sanctions removal.

Bagheri Kani also slammed as unconstructive and detrimental Washington’s announcement of new sanctions against Iran while the Vienna talks are underway.

Iran’s negotiator added that several delegates of the P4+1 member states had also objected to the US move in imposing new sanctions on Iran, urging Washington to refrain from such moves, which can ruin the atmosphere of the talks.

He noted that removal of sanctions will lead to a major breakthrough in the talks.

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