TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has received a delegation from the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.

The meeting was held at the foreign ministry on Tuesday. 

In this cordial meeting, which was also attended by the Council of Deputies and a group of senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the chairman and members of the parliamentary committee first expressed their views on various foreign policy issues and then explained their expectations from the foreign ministry and the government. 

Amir Abdollahian emphasized the high position of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) in managing the affairs of the country, and emphasized the positive view of the ministry on brainstorming and using the views and capacity of the nation's representatives in the process of formulating and advancing foreign policy. He expressed hope that such meeting would continue. 

Explaining the government's achievements in the field of foreign policy over the past 100 days, including providing the vaccine needed by the country, the Foreign Minister explained the programs and priorities of foreign policy and the diplomatic apparatus, including in the field of economic diplomacy. He stressed that there is a special focus on the leap of economic relations with different countries with the priority of neighbors, and that small statistics on the volume of relations during the short life of the current government confirm the success of programs and measures.

Underlining a balanced, dynamic and intelligent foreign policy in the 13th government, the Foreign Minister explained the various dimensions of the government's foreign policy in order to develop relations with neighbors within the framework of good neighborly policy.

He added, “The two visits of Dr. Raisi, the President, to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and the participation in the summit of the Shanghai and ECO organizations and dozens of side meetings and final and signed agreements and understandings, have had good achievements in expanding relations with neighbors.”

Regarding the ongoing talks in Vienna, Amir Abdollahian stated, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is serious in these negotiations and expects the logical proposals it has presented to be carefully considered,” according to a foreign ministry statement. 

He stressed that the definitive effort of the negotiating team is to achieve the goal of the Iranian nation to lift sanctions in this process. Amir Abdollahian also emphasized facilitating the movement of Iranians to their homeland, referring to the 13th government's special attention to Iranians abroad.

The minister announced the second meeting of the secretaries of the specialized working groups of the Supreme Council of Iranians Abroad was scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Amir Abdollahian said the meeting was to be chaired by him as the deputy chairman of the council. 

These meetings pave the way for a meeting of the council, chaired by President Raisi, he added.

In the meeting, the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly also expressed their views on the Vienna talks, developments in the Caucasus, development of relations with neighbors, water diplomacy, public and cultural diplomacy, strengthening economic diplomacy, pursuing the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the need to pay attention to human resources, etc. 

It should be noted that in the meeting, some foreign ministry directors presented reports from the areas under their responsibility.

Iran’s top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani also plans to brief lawmakers sitting on the Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on the outcome of the recent round of the Vienna talks.

The spokesman for the parliamentary committee, Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, said Bagheri Kani will attend a meeting this week of the committee to inform the lawmakers of the latest developments in the Vienna talks.

In remarks to Tasnim, Meshkini said, “In this meeting, Mr. Bagheri, the head of the Iranian negotiating team, will report on the details of the talks.”

After a week of intensive negotiations, diplomats from Iran and major world powers finished the latest round of talks on Friday. The plan to start talks on Thursday.

The Joint Commission of the Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), convened a session on Friday afternoon at Vienna’s Coburg Hotel.

Enrique Mora, the EU Deputy Director General for External Action Service, and Bagheri Kani presided over the session.

At the meeting which was attended by the delegations of Iran and P4+1 group (Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) as well as the European Union, the participants reviewed the results and progress made during this round of talks in light of the draft documents presented by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Some delegations asked for returning to their respective capitals for consultations and receiving new instructions. Hence, the negotiating teams agreed to a hiatus in the talks so that discussions will resume Thursday after delegations return to Vienna from their countries, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

During the current round of talks, the Iranian negotiators presented two draft proposals regarding sanctions and nuclear-related steps if talks were to lead to an agreement. In a bid to push the talks forward, Iran drafted the proposals in strict accordance with the terms of the JCPOA, according to Press TV.

Amir Abdollahian in a recent post on Instagram said that Iran is serious about reaching a good agreement. “We are serious about reaching a good deal. Any deal must be comprehensive so that people feel its results in a tangible way. What the Iranian negotiating team presented in writing is fully in keeping with the Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA, and there is nothing in the documents beyond the agreement nor does the text contain any demands beyond the JCPOA,” he said. 

He added, “I explicitly told Mr. Borrel that the report of 90% uranium enrichment in Iran is a sheer lie. The other parties are expected to come to Vienna for the continuation of talks with clear proposals and answers including the removal of sanctions and to stop their blame-game. In this case, a good deal is within reach. We will follow the path of diplomacy and talks in Vienna within the framework of the logic of negotiation and understanding.”