TEHRAN — The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has noted that the Vienna talks are about return of the United States to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reiterating Tehran’s long-held position that the U.S. must lift all sanction against Iran.

"These talks are about the return of the United States to the JCPOA, and they should lift all sanctions, and this should be practical and verifiable," Mohammad Eslami told IRNA on Tuesday.

Iran, Russia, China, Germany, Britain, France resumed talks Palais Coburg in Vienna on Monday to assess ways to lift sanctions imposed on Iran. The United States is participating in the talks indirectly. The talks were resumed after a five-month hiatus due to the presidential elections in Iran in June.

The Iranian negotiating team is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani. He is accompanied by officials and experts from different fields which analysts say shows Iran’s seriousness.

After the end of the opening session of the talks, he said, “At this meeting, we emphasized that the main factor in the current situation is the action of a country that withdrew from the agreement in violation of the agreement and the Security Council resolution, and in violation of international law and regulations, reinstated previous sanctions, as well as new sanctions against the Iranian nation.”

The chief negotiator added, “Finally, it was decided that the issue of lifting sanctions should be the first agenda of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA. On this basis, a working group was scheduled to begin on Tuesday morning to review the issue of lifting illegal and oppressive sanctions against the Iranian people.”

Bagheri Kani also said it is noteworthy that all the remaining parties to the JCPOA back a demand by Iran that the issue of sanctions must be addressed first.

“This is a remarkable achievement that all the member states of the P4+1 group have accepted the demand of the Islamic Republic and have emphasized that the status of the U.S. regime's illegal sanctions against our people should be clarified first and then discuss and review and decide on other agendas.”

The P4+1 group refers to the four permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, China, France, Britain) and Germany that are still party to the JCPOA. 

The U.S. under the Donald Trump presidency unilaterally quit the JCPOA in May 2018 in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 endorsing the agreement. The U.S. not only returned the previous sanctions lifted under the JCPOA it also introduced new ones on Iran under different pretexts. Trump himself described the sanctions as economic war and unprecedented in history.  

‘Nothing special between Iran and China’

Eslami also said cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is routine.

IAED director general Rafael Grossi visited Tehran last week for talks with Eslami and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

“Our meeting with Rafael Grossi was about our issues with the Agency and it is quite routine and we have nothing special or additional,” Eslami said when asked about interaction between Iran and the IAEA.