Alongside Iran’s important cases such as its regional influence which is leading to many wars in the Middle East and its human rights violation case, the most important international case which the government is busy with is the nuclear case and its related famous 2015 international agreement, known as the JCPOA.
Inside the government’s body this case is becoming more and more complicated and many of the official did not see any opening and progress in that case, in which mainly the regime’s wish is that all the sanctions would be lifted at once.
In an article entitled, ‘Is there any big JCPOA opening on the way?’, the state-run daily Jahan-e-Sanat interviewing Doctor Salah al-ddin, a political science expert, on May 11, 2021 wrote:
“Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a recent statement related to the recent Vienna meetings that the United States had accepted much of what Iran wanted and had agreed to a major lifting of sanctions. The nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions and the instructions being prepared in Tehran are the framework of the Vienna talks.
“Thus, as the Foreign Ministry spokesman has stated, we must witness the grand opening of the JCPOA in the coming days under the shadow of the Vienna Summit, because Iran’s condition for returning to the JCPOA is the lifting of all sanctions contrary to the JCPOA by Washington and Washington, in the current context, it has put practical action on the agenda to lift sanctions. Now, given Washington’s acceptance and readiness to lift sanctions such as financial and banking sanctions, sanctions on oil sales, as well as the release of blocked Iranian currency, can the Vienna talks be considered a condition for returning to the JCPOA and thus reviving the JCPOA?”
Rejecting these claims, this expert added: “Although the Vienna talks and meetings should be considered a condition for the return of the JCPOA, it is a bit simplistic to want to see Washington take unilateral action to abolish any JCPOAs without taking concessions from Tehran. This situation means that returning to the JCPOA and consequently reviving the JCPOA requires a longer period of time, and in the short term there can be no hope of reviving the JCPOA. The non-lateral nature of Washington’s efforts to lift sanctions is due to the nature and structural nature of the Vienna talks. As is clear from the structural nature of the Vienna talks, these negotiations are step-by-step, and any move to return to the JCPOA requires the other side to take favorable action on the JCPOA commitments.
“Under these circumstances, Washington’s return to the JCPOA or the lifting of sanctions will not be without concessions from Tehran. In fact, the step-by-step pattern of the Vienna talks will cause Tehran to deliver concessions to Washington in exchange for concessions. On the other hand, since the basis for negotiations for the negotiating team is Tehran’s instructions, these instructions may make it difficult for Tehran to implement its step-by-step commitments, meaning that it will not allow Tehran to deliver concessions to Washington.”
Therefore, desperate about any quick result and achievements for the regime, he added:
“Under these circumstances, it will not be possible to hope for the desired results in the short term, and this is at a time when the US foreign policy team is in no hurry to achieve early results, and most importantly, the foreign policy team is definitely in the aftermath the JCPOA+ which is the missile programs and regional behavior, and maybe human rights issues are likely to be on the agenda in the negotiation process. In fact, the JCPOA+ is set to be on the agenda of the Vienna talks in a situation that Tehran never considers negotiable. So, it is a little early to see the grand opening of the Vienna Summit.”
