No Breakthroughs in JCPOA Vienna Talks

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

According to the Biden regime's State Department, lifting US sanctions on Iran that are "inconsistent with the JCPOA" alone is being considered.

Saying it depends on Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal ignores its adherence to JCPOA provisions all along.

The US and E3 countries alone have been in breach of their obligations since Trump's illegal May 2018 pullout.

Rollback steps Iran began taking a year later fully comply with JCPOA Articles 26 and 36.

Throughout Islamic State history, it's been in compliance with its international law obligations — polar opposite how the US-dominated West and Israel operate.

On Wednesday, Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister for the Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said the following before further JCPOA talks in Vienna began:

A meeting will be held today after which "a conclusion will be reached and delegations will return to the capitals for consultations," adding:

"I believe that good progress has been made over the past two weeks, which was the fourth round of negotiations, and a number of key issues remain that need further consultations and decisions by the capitals."

"We hope that this will happen in the next few days, so that we can conclude on those issues when we come to the next round of talks."

Still he noted that "(t)he situation was very tense. We held various meetings at all levels bilaterally and multilaterally between different delegations at the expert level." 

"During these discussions, we tried to conclude, resolve, or reduce differences on issues of disagreement" — so far not achieved for a joint statement of agreement.

Vienna talks begun on April 6 have left key issues unresolved.

According to Russia's Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov, reports of an imminent breakthrough in Vienna talks are greatly exaggerated, adding:

"(U)nresolved issues still remain. The negotiators need more time and efforts to finalize an agreement on restoration."

Unnamed E3 officials said they're unaware of major announcements soon to be made.

On Tuesday, a statement by Iran's parliament said the following:

"Simultaneous with the Vienna meetings, the parliament emphasizes the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the necessity for a real removal of all sanctions and its precise verification as the main condition for Iran's adherence to its nuclear undertakings, and underlines that the the truthful economic benefit of the Iranian people sets the criterion for assessing and accepting the results of talks between Iran and other nuclear deal member states," adding:

"Therefore, the parliament does not accept any division and categorization of sanctions that would lead to maintaining a part of the economic pressures against the Iranian people and preventing economic benefits or disrupting them and seriously calls for complete, verifiable and irreversible lifting of sanctions which act as the US weapon, and believes that a partial removal of sanctions would be equal to the remaining of all sanctions, and accepting the remaining of a number of sanctions would mean an endorsement of their legitimacy." 

The above is required under Article 7 of the Law on Strategic Action to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Interests of the Iranian Nation.

The parliament statement also stressed that based on Vienna talks so far, "the US and Europe do not yet have a serious will to lift all sanctions as they further seek to impose an agreement on Iran that would put further restrictions on its nuclear operations and pave the way for regional and defense talks."

Last week, an unnamed Biden regime official said that "(i)f Iran sticks to the position that every sanction that has been imposed since 2017 has to be lifted or there will be no deal, then we are heading towards an impasse."

The US reserves the right to impose new (illegal) sanctions at any time for any reason, he added.

Days earlier, Press TV reported that Biden regime hardliners "insist on keeping in place 500 anti-Iran sanctions," adding:

Maintaining them "will prevent Iran from benefiting from the economic privileges offered under the JCPOA" by breaching Article 29 of the landmark agreement, stating:

"The EU and its Member States and the United States, consistent with their respective laws, will refrain from any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran inconsistent with their commitments not to undermine the successful implementation of this JCPOA."

If hardliners in charge of Biden's geopolitical team refuse to lift all illegally imposed sanctions on Iran as its government justifiably demands, Vienna talks will likely end deadlocked with no agreement on what's most important to Iran.

Knowing how time and again the US demands everything in return for hollow promises to be broken at its discretion — sooner or later —chances for reaching an equitable agreement with Iran and sticking to it are virtually nil.

Its government is fully aware of what it's up against.

The US can never be trusted in dealings on all things related to international agreements, especially not on what interferes with its diabolical aim for unchallenged control over other nations, their resources and populations.

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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