Top Negotiator: Iran Succeeds in Nullifying Sanctions
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and top negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani said that his country has acted successfully in neutralizing the US sanctions, but meantime, stressed that Tehran is still serious about achieving a deal on the removal of embargoes in the Vienna talks.
The foreign ministry, along with scientists and experts in the country's energy sector, will use all of their international capabilities to enhance Iran's ability to neutralize sanctions, Baqeri Kani told reporters on the sidelines of the 26th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition.
He underlined Iran's success in neutralizing sanctions, and added that other countries that have been sanctioned are now seeking to use Iran's experience in nullifying sanctions.
Late last month Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi said that his government has boosted oil exports and developed economic and trade relations with the neighboring states in order to neutralize the US sanctions.
The government does not view the removal of the sanctions on Iran as the only solution to the country’s economic woes, Rayeesi said, addressing a meeting with political activists in Tehran.
Baqeri Kani said that Iran is serious in the Vienna talks and firm in distrusting enemies, adding that the Foreign Ministry will do its utmost to lift sanctions imposed against the country.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Friday that Tehran and the G4+1 group of countries (Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) still have the opportunity to reach a “good and reliable” agreement if the US makes the necessary decision and honors its commitments.
He made the remarks after his phone conversations with European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell and meetings with his deputy Enrique Mora in Tehran.
Mora, who was in Tehran on a two-day visit this week, met with Amir Abdollahian and Iran's top negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani.
During the meetings, they discussed efforts to salvage the deal, which has been on life support since the US withdrawal in 2018.
The US administration, under former President Donald Trump, unilaterally left the nuclear deal in May 2018 and launched a maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic, despite the latter’s full adherence to its commitments under the deal.
Since April 2021, several rounds of talks between Iran and the five remaining parties to the JCPOA -- Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- have been held in the Austrian capital to bring the US back into the Iran deal. The Vienna talks, however, exclude American diplomats due to their country’s withdrawal from the deal.
Talks have been on hold since March as the US insists on its refusal to undo past wrongs, including removal of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) from its foreign terrorist organization list.
Throughout the negotiations in Vienna, Iranian negotiators have been insisting on getting firm guarantees for a proper implementation of the nuclear agreement.
Borrell said the latest visit by Mora had "gone better than expected" and expressed optimism about negotiations.
"The negotiations had stalled and now they have been reopened," Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in Germany. "There is a perspective of reaching a final agreement."