"They have made progress of about 60-70%" and "if the Americans act honestly, we will get results in a short time."
The Iranian president said so, Hassan Rohani, quoted by the Iranian media, commenting on the Joint Commission meeting on the Joint Comprehensive Pian of Action (JCPOA) which was held two days ago. The Commission, made up of representatives of Iran, China, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany and chaired byXNUMX-XNUMX business days, will meet again in Vienna next week after internal consultations. At the end of the summit, the creation of a third working group was announced for "start evaluating the possible succession of the respective measures ", namely the lifting of sanctions by the United States in Tehran and the return within the established limits of uranium enrichment in Iran. "Of course the negotiations are difficult, but we will certainly avoid lengthy negotiations, as well as unnecessary haste", said the chief Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi.
US SANCTIONS DIVIDED BY CATEGORIES
A senior US State Department official gave the Iranian counterpart some examples of three categories of sanctions that the United States intends to deal with. Those who do can revoke, Those that remain and those affecting the so-called “Difficult cases”For which we are still working to make a final decision.
The negotiations are therefore focused on reaching an agreement based on a comprehensive list of actions that each party is willing to take to comply with the terms of the 2015 agreement.
"The parties will not accept anything until they see the full pictureThe senior State Department official said.
“This week has been very important for relaxation, but there are so many things that still need to be resolved. I think that in this initial phase it is important to let people know what we can put on the table to demonstrate good faith and to build trust ”. A European official who attended the meetings reported.
The President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement three years ago, reactivating all revoked sanctions and adding more than 1.500 restrictive measures. In response, Iran has significantly increased its nuclear activity beyond the bounds of the agreement.
President Biden, on the other hand, has reversed the course of 360 ° for a return of the United States to the agreement. However, Iran refused to meet directly with US negotiators, led by the special envoy Robert Malley, but agreed to indirect talks in a third country.
The goal of the original agreement was to limit Iran's uranium enrichment activities and to impose rigorous, unannounced inspections and audits by of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Analysts argue that Iran's return to the limits set by the JCPOA it is easily prosecuted though there is a strong concern for the knowledge made by Iranian scientists in these three years in which they have accelerated uranium enrichment activities.
THE DIFFICULT CASES
Today's negotiations only deal with "nuclear-related sanctions " and Iran's right to participate in the international economic system. The so-called difficult cases concern the "Third category"the State Department official said, those interested in the Trump administration's nomination of Iran as a terrorist state. For example, Trump's sanction against the Central bank of Iran for terrorism could be revoked, while it is likely that the measures imposed against the Military Corps of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards remain.
"The work is in progress", Said the American official and added:"We understand that the lifting of some sanctions will result from the return to the JCPOA ", but this does not mean that we cannot continue to oppose Iranian activities that are destabilizing and go against our interests or those of our partners".
However, the internal contradictions on both sides remain. "Both Iran and America have a lot of hardliners in parliament", a Western diplomat said. An example came on Wednesday when the former secretary of state Mike Pompeo in Congress during a press conference he spoke of Maximum Pressure Act, a law to ensure that all sanctions against Iran remain active and possibly add others.
The law, sponsored by the Republican Study Committee, wants to limit Biden's efforts to return to the nuclear deal. The bill would also require prior congressional approval before Biden signs any deal with Iran.