Persian Gulf states welcome Iran nuclear deal revival

 US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley has told NPR news sources that the Persian Gulf countries are ready to develop diplomatic and economic relations with Iran in case of JCPOA revival.

There are two paths forward. One path is a return to the deal in which case, countries of the Persian Gulf, are prepared to expand their diplomatic and economic ties, which is what they say they want to do - integrate the region economically and diplomatically, he said referring to his recent tour to regional countries.

But if Tehran doesn't go back into the deal and continue to increase its nuclear advances, then that door will be shut, he said, claiming that Iran will once again become the cause of a nonproliferation crisis.

Rob Malley spoke about the attitude of the Persian Gulf countries towards the JCPOA revival, saying that all Persian Gulf states - and some of them have different assessments of the merits of the deal.

But they all agree that getting back in the deal is critical now. And they offered Iran those two paths, he added.

Washington ready to lift sanctions  inconsistent with JCPOA

Elsewhere in his remarks, the envoy referred to the positions of the US officials toward the upcoming talks.

As President Biden and Secretary Blinken have reiterated before, Washington is prepared to get back into the deal and to lift all of the sanctions that are inconsistent with the deal.

So if Iran wants to get back into the deal, it has a way to do that, he also said.

If it doesn't want to get back into the deal, if it continues to accelerate its pace when it comes to its nuclear program,  Washington will have to respond accordingly, the US special envoy also claimed.

Iran and the remaining signatories to the JCPOA known as the P4+1 with the indirect involvement of the United States have held six rounds of talks so far with no results. The Western powers made excessive demands during the talks and the talks were halted amid the change in the government in Iran.

As part of the remedial measures taken by Iran amid the indifference of the JCPOA parties to continued US violations of the JCPOA, Iran halted voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol, which allows unannounced inspections of its nuclear sites by the IAEA inspectors as per a piece of legislation approved in the Iranian parliament last December as well as the JCPOA itself.

Representatives from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries — Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — are expected to hold the seventh round of nuclear talks in Vienna on Monday.

Ali Bagheri, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, will chair the Iranian negotiation team in the talks.

"We will be seriously participating in the Viena talks, and lifting the sanctions imposed on the Iranian nation will be on our agenda", the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said on Friday.

The focus of Iran and the P4+1, is to lift the illegal, unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States after Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA, he noted.

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