JCPOA is not main priority in the planned nuclear talks: legislator
TEHRAN - A member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament has said a resumption of the Vienna nuclear talks should lead to a verified lifting of sanctions.
“Negotiations should lead to a practical result, namely the lifting of sanctions and verification,” Fada-Hossein Maleki said, Fars reported on Monday.
Iran and the remaining parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will resume nuclear talks on November 29. The U.S. will participate in the talks indirectly.
The talks had been put on hold since June, when a new president came to power in Iran.
Maleki said the message of the new round of nuclear talks is that the JCPOA is not the main priority of the country.
Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s new deputy foreign minister for political affairs who will act as chief negotiator, announced the date for resumption of talks last Wednesday after consultation with Enrique Mora, the European Union political director who acts as coordinator for nuclear talks.
“The delay that the Islamic Republic of Iran had during this period regarding the (resumption of) negotiations, in addition to a new administration (in Iran), had an important message for the negotiating parties, that in the new administration the JCPOA will not be the country's first priority and that it will be pursued only as an important project along with other issues.”
Emphasizing that the first priority of the country is to pay attention to the internal capacities for reforming the economy, the MP noted that the approach of the parliament and the administration is result-oriented talks and not negotiation for negotiation.
He said the previous Iranian administration did not heed repeated warnings and followed a wrong approach.
The MP stated: “If it is felt that a tangible and practical result will be achieved from the negotiations, the Islamic Republic will definitely sit at the negotiating table and welcome it. The fact that our negotiations with the Europeans will begin means that we will speak openly to them.”
Maleki reacted to the stance of reformists and supporters of the former administration on the need to negotiate directly with the Americans and reach an agreement with them to meet national interest.
“These people have to answer the question: what is the purpose of negotiation with the United States and was it not done in the previous administration? Didn’t we fulfill our obligations?!
Maleki also said attritional negotiations are not the policy of the administration and parliament.
“At some junctures, the United States tried to get us entangled in attritional negotiations, and some inside the country linked the capacities of the country to the outcome of the negotiations.”
The parliamentarian added as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has emphasized a verified lifting of all sanctions is an important principle for the Iranian side.
“And verification means that our blocked money is released, our merchant ships is able to move freely, and the money from the sale of oil and other products is easily returned to our country, but that the Americans not only do not fulfill their obligations but also order the Koreans to block Iran's oil money, which indicates illegal and cowardly moves in the world.”
In the runup to resumption of talks, Bagheri Kani has started a tour of three European countries, known as E3, which are signatory to the JCPOA. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has also held phone talks with his British and German counterparts. He also plans hold talks with the French foreign minister.
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