In an interview with Radio Goftogoo, the international affairs expert stressed that Iran is only seeking to revive the 2015 version of the JCPOA in the negotiations.
In an interview with the analytical news magazine "Rouydad", Amir Ali Abolfath, considered the continuation of the talks as the most important achievement of the seventh round of talks and stated; “During the sixth to seventh rounds, there was a kind of pessimism and despair; Especially in the early days of the negotiations, when the Western media and the European negotiating team insinuated the futility of the negotiations, emphasizing that the opportunity was running out and that they had plans for options after the failure of the negotiations.”
He continued; “These threats were then extended to the political, military and psychological spheres, but in the end, the seventh round of talks ended in a way that the eighth round is scheduled to begin in December, and this is a positive point.”
Abolfath, meanwhile, described the talks as very complicated - even more complicated than the JCPOA talks - and added; “For this reason, we have to be patient and wait for better news.”
He called the issue of reaching an agreement within a few weeks far from reality; “It is true that Britain, France and Germany are the biggest countries in Europe; but there are other countries in the European Union that have different views and believe that Iran should be dealt with more severely. This is while some of them have long-standing relations with Iran.”
Abolfath stressed that the EU member countries have different approaches towards Iran; “The disagreement has existed since the Iranian nuclear issue was raised.”
Regarding what the other sides explicitly intends to achieve through the talks, he said; “There are two sides in the talks; Iran, Russia and China are on one side, and the three European countries are on the other side along with the United States.”
Iran, Russia and China insist that the 2015 version of the JCPOA should be revived and the United States should return to that agreement, but other parties believe that the 2015 JCPOA is not enough and that the a 2022 version should take place, and there should be changes within the text of the 2015 agreement and regional issues. And Iran's missiles and military should also be discussed.”
Abolfath continued; “The claim of the other side regarding Iran's post-JCPOA demands is based on media war and war of narratives, and it intends to influence public opinion; that’s because they cannot say that we walked out of the JCPOA, but Iran was committed to it.”
The Iranian expert on the US affairs then stressed that Iran wants to return to the 2015 version of the JCPOA and it calls for the lift of all sanctions, and our commitments can be precisely counted and the IAEA can carefully and technically review them.
Abolfath mentioned that the main problem includes the commitments and verification of sanctions’ lifting, and emphasized; “The United States is announcing on paper that it would suspend the sanctions.”
By Azadeh Khajeh Nasiri
