TEHRAN: Iran on Thursday called on the United States to drop “unacceptable proposals” in talks on reviving Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, while Russia’s demands for guarantees from Washington complicated efforts to close an agreement.
The 2015 deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme was on the verge of being restored after 11 months of negotiations until Russia presented a new obstacle last week by demanding written guarantees from the United States that Western sanctions over its attack of Ukraine would not affect its trade with Iran.
Top security official Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which makes the decisions in the talks in Vienna and reports to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said on Twitter that in the absence of a political decision by the United States the talks “become more complicated every hour”.
The United States was making “unreasonable offers” and exerting “unjustified pressure” to quickly reach an agreement which shows that Washington is not interested in a strong accord, said Shamkhani in a tweet.
The absence of a US political decision is making the talks more complicated by the hour, he added.
The United States “has no will to reach a strong agreement”, he said, adding that it was making “unacceptable proposals (and) insists on a quick agreement with false pretences.”
He did not elaborate on the US proposals.
Iran will not back down from any of its red lines in talks in Vienna, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday.
“The government has vigorously pursued the removal of sanctions in Vienna talks,” he added in a tweet. Iran has also said it wants guarantees that no future US president will abandon a nuclear deal once again.
Negotiators in Vienna are still trying to tackle a few key issues, said the semi-official Tasnim news agency citing an unnamed source.
A revived nuclear deal cannot limit Tehran’s pursuit of its missile and space programmes, said Nour news, which is affiliated with a top security body.
Iran is not willing to negotiate its defence capabilities, Nour news added in a tweet. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has successfully put a second military satellite, the Noor 2, into orbit, state media said on Tuesday. — Reuters
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