On late Wednesday, Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the negotiation team, announced that they reached an agreement with their European counterparts to restart the stalled nuclear talks on November 29.
Kani made the announcement via his Twitter account, saying: “We agreed to start the negotiations aiming at the removal of unlawful & inhuman sanctions on 29 November in Vienna.”
Following Kani’s announcement, Enrique Mora, EU Deputy Secretary-General and coordinator of the Vienna talks, confirmed that the negotiations would resume.
The development came after the tension between Tehran and Washington had accelerated due to IRGC’s statement claiming that their forces thwarted the US attempt to seize Iranian oil tanker in the Sea of Oman.
Another controversial point was put forward by the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani. On Wednesday, Shamkhani wrote on his Twitter account that negotiations to revive Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers will fail unless US President Joe Biden can guarantee that Washington will not abandon the pact again.
Since April, Iran and P4+1 countries have engaged in talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, the negotiations reached an impasse following hardliner Ebrahim Raisi’s victory in the presidential election held in June.
Washington and its EU partners have frequently reiterated their calls on Iran to return to the negotiation table. Speaking at a news conference, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said, “We believe it remains possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA by closing the relatively small number of issues that remained outstanding at the end of June.”
Yet, he added, “the window of opportunity will not be open forever, especially if Iran continues to take provocative nuclear steps.”
