Iran to Hold Nuclear Talks with New Format: MP

Speaking to Tasnim, Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Vahid Jalalzadeh said either the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Supreme National Security Council will handle the next round of nuclear talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran has already tried various methods in the course of negotiations, the MP noted, adding, “The status of negotiations must become clear in the administration of Mr. (President Ibrahim) Raisi; thereafter, the (line-up of) team of nuclear negotiators will be defined.”

He also bemoaned the lack of any “specific achievement” following six rounds of talks in Vienna led by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi under the previous Iranian administration,  stressing that Tehran will definitely define “a new framework and platform” for the next round of negotiations.

The format that the previous team of Iran’s nuclear negotiators had adopted was flawed, Jalalzadeh stated, adding, “We must compel the West with a new platform to (make them) honor their commitments.”

In comments in July, Abolfazl Amouei, another member of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, had said that the framework of the negotiations on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would not change under the administration of Raisi.

The latest round of talks to revive the JCPOA began in Vienna in April between Iran and the remaining members of the nuclear deal, namely the UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany.

The US left the JCPOA in 2018 and restored the economic sanctions that the accord had lifted. Tehran retaliated with remedial nuclear measures that it is entitled to take under the JCPOA’s Paragraph 36.

The negotiations examine the potential of revitalization of the nuclear deal and the US’ likely return to it.