Asefi stated that reaching an agreement with the United States is easier than implementing its provisions; “Americans are not committed to what they say when it’s time for implementing it, and that’s because they see themselves as a ...
Radio Goftogoo had a phone call interview with Dr. Hamid Reza Asefi, Iran’s former spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the Vienna talks.
Asefi clarified that the document signed in the 11th government, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will no longer exist; “The document which is being negotiated today has a different form and image, and therefore it can’t basically take the name of the JCPOA, rather it should be called ‘Lift of Sanctions’”
“We shouldn’t forget that the United States withdrew from this agreement and the previous negotiations, and the Americans should always be blamed for this,” he said, insisting that Iran negotiate with "P5+1-1"”.
The former spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the words of Bagheri, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, and said; “According to him, the problems and tensions between the negotiating parties have decreased. But we need to see what problems have been reduced and what decisions have been made on the key issues, especially the US guarantee for lifting sanctions and its verification.”
He mentioned that he also agrees with Mr. Bagheri cautiously, and continued; “There is an English idiom that says is in the details. Generalities may be agreed upon, but when you go into details, the devil spoils the work.”
"The night before the JCPOA was signed, I said that it was easier to reach an agreement with the Americans than to implement it, since the United States needs it when it signs the agreement," Asefi said in his interview with Radio Goftogoo. “But because the American authorities see themselves as a superpower, they’re not committed to implementing it. The current nuclear negotiating team is also rightly concerned about the implementation of the agreement.”
The former spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs later said of the US effort to reach an interim agreement; “The Americans think that Iran is reaching a point where it is irreversible, and that’s why there are suggestions from the American team that Biden can guarantee the validity of the agreement, and he can instruct companies to continue their trade with Iran for a long time if sanctions are re-imposed.”
By Zahra Judaki
