Page 6 - IRANRptAug22

2.0 Politics
2.1 Iran says ready to continue talks on nuclear deal
Iran has responded favourably to the proposal of the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, to resume the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JCPOA), and it seeks to complete negotiations as soon as possible, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said on July 31.
Earlier, Borrell said he had presented his text of the proposal to renew the JCPOA, which he considers the best possible deal suitable for execution in a last-minute attempt to revive the deal and get parties around the table.
"We shared our proposed ideas, both on substance and form, to pave the way for a swift conclusion of the Vienna negotiations," Ali Bagheri Kani said.
"As Iran, we stand ready to conclude the negotiations in a short order, should the other side be ready to do the same," he added.
In 2015, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, France , and Iran entered into a nuclear deal, the JCPOA, which involved lifting sanctions in exchange for limiting Iran's nuclear programme.
In May 2018, the US withdrew from the JCPOA under Donald Trump and reinstated sanctions against Tehran.
In response, Iran announced a phased reduction in its obligations under the agreement, waiving restrictions on nuclear research, centrifuges and the level of uranium enrichment.
Negotiations were held in Vienna to renew the JCPOA and lift Washington 's sanctions against Tehran.
In December 2021, the parties reached an agreement on two draft agreements, in which the European side included the positions of Iran. Iranian spokesman Bagheri Kani said the talks were going well, but US State Department spokesman Ned Price assessed the progress in Vienna as modest, urging Tehran to take the issue seriously.
With the return of the parties to their capitals at the end of March, the negotiations were suspended.
The Iranian foreign ministry blames the US administration for this. The latest round of negotiations on the JCPOA took place in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on June 29-30.
6 IRAN Country Report August 2022 www.intellinews.com