There is progress at the Iran nuclear deal negotiating table

Russia’s delegate to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Friday that there is progress on the Iranian nuclear deal negotiating table, while sources indicated to “Al-Sharq” that differences are still “deep”, especially with regard to the issue of lifting sanctions.

And Ulyanov explained in a tweet via his Twitter account that he “noted some progress on two tracks: at the negotiating table and in general assessments of the situation in the Vienna talks.””Now, for the first time since last June, these assessments contain positive, cautious elements. This means that the negotiators are making real progress,” he added.

On Thursday, Ulyanov expected that an agreement on returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement would be reached during the first half of next February, while Iran described the eighth round of the Vienna talks as “positive and good.”

In statements to Iran International TV, Ulyanov indicated that the issue of ensuring the survival of the United States in the nuclear agreement, which it withdrew from in 2018, is “on the table” in the coming years, noting that the participants do not want to “repeat previous practices.”The head of the Russian delegation in the Vienna talks called on the Iranians and the Europeans to discuss guarantees that previous practices would not be repeated, in reference to the withdrawal from the agreement.

Ulyanov expressed his satisfaction with his country’s role in the Vienna talks, pointing out that Moscow “is doing a lot and contributing positively, and I think our counterparts in the Vienna talks are aware of this fact.”

Ulyanov considered that the Vienna talks “are a process of give and take, and each of us changes his view according to necessity and the nature of negotiations developments,” expressing his belief that “the Iranians can do the same if necessary.”

The Russian delegate confirmed that the Iranian nuclear program file will be “discussed in depth” during Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s upcoming visit to Moscow, during which he is expected to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

‘Deep disagreements’

For his part, a source close to the Vienna negotiations said, in a statement to Al-Sharq, that differences are still deep over the file of lifting the sanctions, and there are many questions about what sanctions will be lifted, and how and when to lift them.The source added that “the political aspect dominates the files of this round, and the need to take guarantor political decisions.” He pointed out that “the multiplicity of governments participating in the negotiations makes this round difficult, and also makes talking about a time frame for it difficult.”

The participants in the negotiations suspended the eighth round of the Vienna talks aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and world powers, which began last Monday, due to the New Year holiday.

After the tour stopped, an advisor close to the Iranian delegation told Al-Sharq that “the sanctions and the verification of their lifting is important for Iran, and it will be difficult for the other parties, because it is clear that they want to resist abandoning the sanctions imposed on Iran.”