The exact date of the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear deal is unknown; they will be resumed after the inauguration of the new Iranian president. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said this in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper. The inauguration ceremony is to be held on August 5.
"We can only guess when the seventh round will begin. There has been a break since June 20. At first, it was supposed to last for ten days, but it turned out not to be. The only thing that is known now is that the negotiations will resume after the inauguration of the new Iranian president. The ceremony is scheduled for August 5. How soon after August 5 remains unknown. Analysts are guessing whether this will happen on August 15 or 20; some are saying September, and some are even talking about October," Ulyanov told the newspaper.
New position
Ulyanov noted that the new authorities in Iran may adjust their position on some of the issues being negotiated to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program.
"We don't know what changes in Iranian attitudes may occur given the new president coming to power and the formation of a new government. It cannot be ruled out that the Iranian side's views on some of the issues discussed in Vienna will undergo adjustments. We do not know anything about that," the diplomat said.
The inauguration of the new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will take place on August 5. He won the elections on July 18 with 17.9 million votes (about 62%) with a turnout of 48.8%. What distinguishes the next head of government from the current president, Hassan Rouhani, is his affiliation with the conservative political camp.
Ulyanov stressed that the JCPOA can only be restored in its original form; a new deal is impossible.
"From our point of view, there is no alternative to restoring the JCPOA in its original form. All the talk about starting from scratch, making up a new deal is from the realm of fiction," he said. - "If we go down this road, a new deal may be agreed very soon, and maybe never. No, we should be guided by reality, and they are such that the first priority is the restoration of the original nuclear deal as soon as possible, without any exceptions or add-ons".
Ulyanov noted that the growing irritation of some negotiators in Vienna is primarily visible in public statements, which have become "more irritated, more nervous." "The Americans, on the one hand, say that they treat the break in the negotiations with a certain understanding, but on the other hand, there are words coming out of Washington that if there is a long delay, the return to the original Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action will begin to lose meaning, at least in the eyes of the United States. Hopefully, this is a propaganda device, an attempt to push Iran to accelerate," the diplomat added.
Lifting sanctions
Ulyanov noted that Iran is moving farther and farther away from its commitments under the original JCPOA, making the timeline for lifting sanctions on Tehran more and more remote.
"Iran is moving further and further away from its commitments under the original JCPOA. Perhaps there is even some irrationality in this because if negotiations are resolved by reaching an agreement, all these deviations from the original nuclear deal will have to be reversed. And further Iran deviates from the initial commitments, the longer it will take, which will also affect the timing of the sanctions lifting," he pointed out.
Answering a question about how Russia assesses the fact that Tehran is building up its enriched uranium stockpile and whether this poses a danger to Russia, Mr. Ulyanov said, "I think that it would be not quite correct to operate with such categories as 'danger,' 'threat,' but we certainly are not enthusiastic about it.
In Vienna, Iran and the international "Five" (Russia, Britain, China, France and Germany) have been holding face-to-face talks since April to restore the Iranian nuclear agreement to its original form: lifting US sanctions on Iran, fulfilling Iran's nuclear obligations, and returning the US to the deal. Representatives of the JCPOA states are also holding separate consultations with the US delegation without Iranian participation. All delegations are expected to complete their work first in late May and then in early June.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: viennamission.mid.ru
Based on materials from TASS