TEHRAN — Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Iran has made no demands beyond the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the ongoing Vienna talks, saying such claims are a “sheer lie”.

Amir Abdollahian made the remarks at the last day of the conference of the heads of Iranian diplomatic missions in neighboring countries.

The foreign minister said Iran has put forward two draft proposals that are completely based on the JCPOA and they contain nothing beyond the deal.
 
The chief diplomat, however, said these proposals are the result of tens of hours of discussions in the government. Amir Abdollahian said Iran’s approach is a complete lifting of the JCPOA-related sanctions in return for dispelling the other parties' alleged concerns about Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

The top diplomat added that the two texts are currently being discussed in Vienna. Amir Abdollahian said the first text is the result of the first six rounds of negotiations during the Rouhani administration.

And at the same time, he said, the opposing sides have agreed that the new drafts proposed by Iran should remain on the table in order for all parties to come up with a single text following discussions and combination of all of them. 

Ultimately, Amir Abdollahian said, this process should lead to the return of the other parties to their obligations.

In the end, the foreign minister said he hopes that the other sides will continue their efforts in good faith and with a view to resolving the issue. 

He underlined, "We are optimistic that if the other side acts realistically, we can achieve progress in this round of negotiations.”

Amir Abdollahian said talks with dignity have been on the agenda since the beginning of the Raisi government and the same approach is still being pursued thanks to the seriousness and hard work of the negotiating team.

Amir Abdollahian lauds performance of diplomats in facilitating import of Covid vaccines

Elsewhere in his remarks, the foreign minister underlined the importance of the meeting of the Iranian diplomats in neighboring and regional countries. 

The meeting of diplomats and border governors was addressed by the Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Chief of General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi and other officials.

Amir Abdollahian said relevant government organizations have already started sessions to review problems and approaches proposed by the heads of the diplomatic missions and that some working groups have been formed to that end.

The foreign minister said the first test of the diplomatic missions outside Iran was the import of Covid vaccine at the beginning of the government’s tenure. 

Amir Abdollahian said fortunately, thanks to follow-up and huge efforts by Iran, more than 80 percent of the Iranian people have been vaccinated. He added that in addition to countries such as China, which accounted for the largest share of imported vaccines, and Cuba, which cooperated with Iran in transferring technology for joint production, vaccines were imported from many other countries, so that now the warehouses of the Health Ministry and the Red Crescent Society do not have more capacity for new imported jabs.