US should explicate contradictory positions amid Vienna talks

“We believe this is a contradictory and double-sided behavior by the US government. We believe that [President Joe] Biden administration should explain about such contradictions,” Ali Bagheri Kani said in an interview with Press TV in reaction to the latest round of US sanctions against Iran.

Last week, the US Treasury and State Department announced sanctions against a dozen Iranian government officials and organizations over accusations of human rights abuses.

The process of “serious and meaningful negotiations” on the removal of anti-Iran sanctions has not yet started,” Bagheri said.

“Of course, several drafts have been exchanged between the two sides. But what is clear and what is significant is that, from our point of view, the sanctions, which are in contradiction and inconsistent with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), need to be removed immediately. These sanctions have been imposed either during the Obama, Trump, or Biden administrations. All of them need to be removed,” he highlighted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Bagheri Kani said the Israeli regime is frantically trying to poison the atmosphere of the ongoing Vienna talks and is pursuing negative, non-constructive, and destructive measures both at the venue of the negotiations and outside.

Bagheri Kani underscored that Iran is doing nothing covert when it comes to its nuclear activities and the Islamic Republic’s atomic program is operating fully within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as well as the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA).

Iran has no problem reversing the remedial measures that it has taken once the Americans remove the sanctions against Iran, the Iranian diplomat said.

“All the nuclear activities of Iran are being undertaken within the framework of the NPT and the Safeguards Agreement.

"But what is clear and what is significant is that, from our point of view, the sanctions, which are in contradiction and inconsistent with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), need to be removed immediately"The activities are comprehensively being inspected by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) authorities. Iran does not have any secret nuclear activities,” he said.

“Iran’s nuclear activities are exactly compatible with the JCPOA as paragraphs 26 and 36 of the deal entitle Iran, either wholly or partially, to suspend its activities if another party fails to fulfill its commitments. We have announced earlier and reiterated that our reactions are remedial.

“We started our nuclear activities one year after the United States pulled out of the nuclear agreement. When the Americans remove the illegal sanctions against Iran grounds will be paved for Iran to stop its remedial activities,” Bagheri Kani noted.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator also stressed that there are several bones of contention between the two sides in the current talks concerning guarantees by the US that it will not leave the deal again and Iran’s verification of Washington’s sanctions removal, over which there still remains a host of differences.

“I believe that if the other party demonstrates serious determination and practical preparedness in order to fulfill all its obligations within the framework of the JCPOA, we would then be able to reach a mutually agreed deal within a short span of time,” Bagheri Kani said.

ZZ/PR