Iran’s steps in JCPOA talks will correspond to moves by other parties: Amir-Abdollahian

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Tehran will soon "finalize" its internal deliberations on the resumption of the Vienna talks aimed at reviving the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal it signed with world powers.

“In future talks, our actions will be proportional to the level of deeds and measures of the other parties,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting with Switzerland’s President of the National Council Andreas Aebi in Tehran on Tuesday.

The United States, under former President Donald Trump, unilaterally withdrew from the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reinstated draconian sanctions on the Islamic Republic, although the country had displayed full compliance.

In early April, Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA began to hold talks in Vienna after the US administration of Joe Biden voiced a willingness to rejoin the agreement and remove the sanctions.

Since the beginning of the Vienna talks, Tehran has argued that Washington—as the first party that violated the JCPOA—needs to take the first step by returning to full compliance. Tehran also says it will resume all of its nuclear commitments under the deal only after the US removes all the sanctions in practice.

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The negotiations were paused soon after the victory of Ebrahim Raeisi in Iran’s June 18 presidential election.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir-Abdollahian hailed cordial relations between Iran and Switzerland and said parliamentarian diplomacy between the two sides plays a critical role in improving all-out cooperation. He added that the new Iranian administration’s policy is to establish balanced relations with other countries.

Pointing to important capacities of the two countries to boost relations in political, economic and cultural sectors, the top Iranian diplomat called for closer cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises.

On the latest developments in Afghanistan, the Iranian foreign minister reiterated the need for the formation of an inclusive government with the presence of all ethnic groups, saying that challenges associated with the refugees, drug trafficking and terrorism require collective international efforts.

He also stressed the importance of dispatching humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit country and said the Islamic Republic remains active in this regard.

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Aebi, for his part, said Switzerland is keen to bring the views of the negotiating parties to the JCPOA closer together in the talks to come. He hailed Iran as a country with a pivotal role in the region and said he held constructive talks with the Iranian parliamentary officials in Tehran.

The Swiss official called for plans to improve his country’s role as the representative of interests of a number of countries in Iran. He also commended Iran’s efforts to host millions of Afghan refugees in the past decades.

Aebi, who is on an official visit to Tehran at the head of a delegation, held a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and two senior lawmakers on Monday.

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