Top security official: Iran to remain in Vienna talks until ‘strong deal’ reached to meet its logical demands

“We will remain in the #ViennaTalks until we reach a ‘strong agreement’ that meets all our legal and logical demands,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said in a post on his official Twitter account on Monday.

He reiterated firm determination of Iranian officials to safeguard the country’s national interests despite all external and internal hype.

“All pillars of the Iranian state – in spite of all external and internal hype – work hard to preserve and advance Iran’s national interests,” the SNSC secretary pointed out.

The United States left the multilateral Iran deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018 and began to implement what it called the “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, depriving the country of the economic benefits of the agreement, including the removal of sanctions, for which Iran had agreed to put certain caps on its nuclear activities.

In the meantime, the other parties to the deal, in particular France, Britain and Germany, only paid lip service to safeguarding Iran’s economic dividends as promised under the JCPOA, prompting Iran – after an entire year of “strategic patience” – to reduce its nuclear obligations in a legal move under the deal.

The Vienna talks began last April between Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China- on the assumption that the US, under the administration of President Joe Biden, is willing to repeal the so-called maximum pressure policy pursued by former president, Donald Trump, against Tehran.

Iran and the P4+1 group of countries on Friday announced a pause in the Vienna talks, with Tehran saying that all relevant parties will concentrate on a “successful conclusion” of the diplomatic process.

The pause was first announced in a tweet on Friday by the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who said the break was needed due to what he called “external factors.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday criticized the United States for raising “new” issues in the course of the Vienna talks, expressing the Islamic Republic’s readiness to reach a “good and lasting” agreement with the five powers.

The Iranian foreign minister added that Tehran is making serious efforts to reach a “good, strong and lasting” agreement with the P4+1 group of countries.