Page 9 - MEOG Week 18 2022
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MEOG POLICY & SECURITY MEOG
Iranian diplomat says nuclear
deal diplomacy still alive
IRAN DIPLOMACY between Iran and the US over the Iran’s top diplomat told Al-Masirah he was
potential revival of 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA, still looking for “a robust and lasting agreement”.
is still being maintained, Iran’s Foreign Minister He reiterated his previous call for the US admin-
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an interview istration to be “realistic”.
with the Yemeni TV channel Al-Masirah on May Tehran also remains concerned that an
3. Tehran and Washington were still exchanging agreement to resurrect the JCPOA signed with
“written messages” conveyed by a European the current Democratic presidency of the US
intermediary, he added. could be torn to shreds by a Republican presi-
The Vienna talks process aimed at finding a dency within a few years were the Republicans
path to restoring the JCPOA has not made any to win the American presidential election due in
significant progress for more than two months, November 2024.
with issues such as Iran’s demand that the US The Iranians have asked for guarantees that
delist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps this would not happen, but US President Joe
(IRGC) from its list of designated foreign terror- Biden can have no control over the future foreign
ist organisations (FTO) not overcome. policy choices of his successor.
Iran, the UK, France, Germany, China and Western diplomats familiar with the latest
Russia are the remaining JCPOA signatories. The Vienna talks developments were cited in a Reu-
US unilaterally abandoned the deal, designed to ters analysis on May 2 as saying that their gov-
verifiably curb Iran’s nuclear development pro- ernments were losing hope for an agreement to
gramme in return for the lifting of economic restart the JCPOA, but were not yet “pulling the
sanctions, in May 2018. plug.”
Week 18 04•May•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
