Iranian negotiating team denies Reuters report on Vienna talks

March 6, 2022 - 22:26

TEHRAN - A source close to Iran’s negotiating team has rejected media hype regarding the ongoing talks in Vienna, calling it a forgery.

Published by Reuters some days ago, the report claimed that the talks in Vienna are nearing completion. 

"We are close to a possible deal," Jalina Porter, the U.S. State Department's principal deputy spokesperson, told reporters but cautioned that unsolved issues remained.

Russia's lead negotiator at the Vienna talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, also wrote, "There are some issues that need to be finalized ... the outstanding issues are relatively small, but not yet settled." 

Enrique Mora, the European Union diplomat coordinating the talks, also tweeted, "Some relevant issues are still open and success is never guaranteed." He added, "We are definitely not there yet."

According to Reuters, an Iranian official in Tehran told the news agency on Saturday that an alleged demand by Russia for written guarantees by the U.S. that sanctions on Moscow would not harm Russian cooperation with Iran is not constructive.

Reuters has a long history of creating media hype by quoting "informed officials" without naming them which follows policy of lies against Iran. 

The quote from a Tehran official comes at a time when Reuters has no correspondent in the Iranian capital, and no Iranian official has spoken to Reuters, according to sources.