Iran's position has not changed and all sanctions should be lifted

Araghchi who is Iran's chief negotiator at the Vienna talks further referred to holding of the third round of Vienna talks in the form of the JCPOA Joint Commission on Tuesday and said that intensive discussions took place during the meeting on bilateral, trilateral and five-party meetings.

He said he met with the EU coordinator Enrique Mora two times during the day.

Araghchi described the tripartite meeting with Russia and China as very useful and said that parites intend to hold similar tripartite meetings before the commission meeting.

Russia and China have very good positions in the talks, and this time there was coordination with Russia and China, he added.

Our first principle is to avoid hastiness, he said, adding that Iran will not be in a rush; but meanwhile, Iran will by no means yield to another course of lingering negotiations.

Araghchi who was speaking in a press conference referred to his trilateral meeting with Russia and China and said that it was a very fruitful session, that is every time held before the Joint JCPOA Commission. “Russia and China have very favorable stands and this time too, this trilateral meeting was held in collaboration with Russia and China.

He also informed the press that the Iranian delegation meanwhile had a quadrilateral meeting with the EU3, after with the Joint JCPOA Commission was held. “The combination of these meetings firstly means the serious will of all sides and the seriousness of all sides in these talks for achieving a tangible result, which of course does not mean there is no challenge,” added Araghchi.

The head of the Iranian delegation in nuclear talks with world powers added: We are faced with tough challenges in this path, but the seriousness of all sides is quite clear. It was decided today at the Joint Commission to accelerate the process of work somehow.

Araghchi further reiterated: the working groups focusing on the nuclear and termination of sanctions will re-start their work after the end of the JCPOA Commission and are commissioned to prepare the final draft, which they need to begin writing.

“Writing this text is a tough task, since reaching at a text on which all sides will be agreed is difficult, and it might take days and even weeks,” said Araghchi.

The Iranian diplomat said: We intend to prepared the final text fast and without any delay, or lingering talks, but meanwhile this work requires close scrutiny and care.

It has been agreed that a 3rd workgroup will be established called the Executive Measures, or the Further Executive Arrangements, in which the verification tests, ways for implementation of the two sides’ actions, and the timing schedule for beginning both sides’ commitments are all to be planned in that working group, he added.

Araghchi said that this 3rd workgroup in fact combines the work of the existing two working groups and arranges the neat implementation charts.

The Iranian top negotiator emphasized: We believe we are on the path, and yet we cannot yet predict whether at the end of this negotiations path how optimist, or pessimist everyone will be. Yet, we thing we are progressing on the right path.

Araghchi focusing on the termination of sanctions, too, said: Good mutual agreements have been reach in sectional sanctions that have affected various aspects of the Iranian economy, including in oil, energy, banking, insurance, shipping, and ports fields, all of which have affected negatively the Iranian economy under sanctions, which need to be terminated.

On dual sanction, he said: The second type of sanction are those in which the real and legal entities are sanctioned, where there is need to more intensive work.

We still have the same previous stands, emphasizing that the entire sanctions need to be terminated, and the process of implementing the commitments are based on the (Iranian) system’s resolute stands, which necessitates that the Americans need to take the first step and make its moves, and then after Iran will justify the truthfulness of those moves, will also make its moves accordingly, said Araghchi.

The deputy FM expressed hope that the final text will be prepared within the next couple of days so that we will be in a position to have a better perspective about the process of finalizing the job.

We are still faced with greater challenges, for resolving which we have still not reach any agreement. The entire delegations’ efforts are aimed at finding solutions to those challenges, but they are truly great and by the side of them there are also rough details, that are in need of word by word and phrase by phrase agreements, said the Iranian diplomat.

He said that whenever it will be necessary we will survey the process of the working groups in larger teams of delegations, adding that If there will be need to untying a knot, we will arrange for another Joint JCPOA Commission, but presently there is no plan for such acts.

The longer the negotiations will get the tougher it will be for the negotiators, he stressed.

The 3rd round of Iran’s nuclear talks with the G4+1 re-started on Tuesday evening in Vienna. At the he first round of those talks all the sides were agreed on the need for accelerating the process, and for more intensive work of the existing two working groups and the 3rd one, that has just been established.

Just as before, the American delegation, too, is separately informed of the process of the negotiations simultaneously.

The Iranian delegation, headed by Araghchi, is also comprised of members from other concerned organizations, such as the Petroleum Ministry, the Central Bank, and the Atomic Energy Organization.

Earlier the participating delegations has announced that the Vienna negotiations are complicated and tough, but it seems currently as if all sides are firmly willing to revive the JCPOA and terminate the sanctions that were imposed by the former US president Donald Trump’s administration against Iran, which is the toughest part for revival of JCPOA.

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