TEHRAN — Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday the Iranian side proposed some initiatives to advance the nuclear talks when Enrique Mora, the European Union’s nuclear talks coordinator, visited Tehran last week.

Mora visited Tehran to re-energize the Vienna talks that started in April last year. The talks in Vienna had stalemated in Vienna since March as the Biden administration has failed to take political decision to take a number of steps, including removing the name of the IRGC from foreign terrorist organizations.

However, while Mora was in Tehran the Zionist regime of Israel created a commotion over his visit.

“Whenever there is an initiative and a diplomatic move, the fake regime of Israel carries out its movements against diplomacy and this is nothing new,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a weekly press briefing. 

Mora visited Tehran following contacts between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the spokesman said. In the phone conversations Amir Abdollahian and Borrell agreed that message be exchanged in person this time, he added. 
 
“When Mr. Mora came to Tehran, very serious and result-oriented negotiations were held with ‘special initiatives’ by the Islamic Republic of Iran. He had several long conversations with Mr. Bagheri,” Khatibzadeh said, adding that some of the solutions that have been proposed have been told to the American side. 

“If they respond appropriately, we can be in a position where all parties can return to Vienna,” he said, asserting that if the United States announces its “political decision”, which Iran has not yet received, all parties can take an important step forward in the negotiations.

Mora’s agenda was very specific

While in Tehran Mora held intensive talks with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani. After his return to Brussels, Borrell said the stage has been set for resuming talks in Vienna.

Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Germany on Friday, the EU’s chief diplomat said, "The negotiations were blocked and they have been unblocked and that means there is the prospective of reaching a final agreement."

Khatibzadeh said, “Mora came to Tehran with a specific agenda. Of course, the negotiations in Iran were accompanied by special initiatives specifically by Iran. Since the beginning of the new negotiations, Iran has used these innovations several times to address the shortcomings and lack of political decisions of the other side. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a political decision in Washington.”

He added that sometimes there are rumors from Washington that could be interpreted as a “blame game”.

“This is a repetitive tactic that constantly repeats repetitive sentences as a blame game, and thank God they do not get tired of repetition. Everyone knows the truth of the matter. What Iran wants is its own rights and it has not asked for anything more than its rights and has not asked for more than what is promised in United Nation Security Council Resolution 2231. The terms you sometimes hear regarding post-JCPOA, from the first day of the negotiations, wherever they did not want to agree, they labeled it as a post-JCPOA demand in order not to fulfil their obligations,” he added.

The spokesman stated that what Iran has said over and over is clear. 

“All parts and components of the maximum pressure campaign and everything that the previous U.S. administration, namely Trump, has put, and these bolts must be unscrewed. The Biden administration must once again decide whether it wants to keep Trump's legacy, or abide by its commitments under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 and the JCPOA, and leave a new legacy for the United States under international law,” he reiterated.

Russia’s position on Vienna talks can be found in Lavrov’s words

Responding to a question about a recent tweet by Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Khatibzadeh said that the Foreign Ministry does not look at “sporadic” tweets of one diplomat, and looks at the Russian foreign minister for official positions. 

“Russia's role in the Vienna talks was constructive and positive. I'm not talking about the sporadic tweets of one certain diplomat. The voice that we hear is the voice that everyone heard during the meeting between Lavrov and Amir Abdollahian, and Lavrov announced in behind the podium that if an agreement is reached today, Russia has no problem. This is the official position of the Russian government. Iran will protect of the interests of the people in this regard,” the spokesman stated. 

He went on to that it is natural that Russia’s mediatory role in regard to the JCPOA and the Vienna negotiations is being reduced to the Ukraine war the tensions between Moscow and the West over the war. 

However, he said, interpreting Russia's behavior “may be a bit early.”