NOURNEWS - The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, left for Moscow on Monday, March 14, to meet with the officials of the Russian Federation.
The trip could be significant in the midst of the complex context of the Vienna talks, as well as the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, which has led to an unprecedented confrontation between the West and Russia.
Russia said last week that the United States should pledge in writing that sanctions against Moscow following the Ukraine crisis would impede its economic and nuclear cooperation with Iran, some of which are included in JCPOA.
Russia's request prompted the media and some Western officials to accuse Moscow of launching a fierce attack on the finalization of the Vienna talks and reaching an agreement.
Some critics and opponents of Iran's cooperation with Russia inside the country, along with the Western wave, have accused Moscow of taking Iran's interests hostage to meet its demands.
This atmosphere went so far that even the active neutral position of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was based on opposing the war on the one hand and condemning the provocative actions of the United States and the West in Ukraine on the other, was interpreted as our country falling short of Russian bets. It was attacked by the Western media and their like-minded people inside
In such a situation, the Wall Street Journal wrote yesterday, quoting a senior official in the US government, that Washington opposes Russia's request for exemption from sanctions for the implementation of JCPOA and gave Moscow a week to withdraw this request.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed US official as saying that the United States would seek an agreement to exclude Russia from JCPOA if it did not back down from its call for sanctions.
Russia, meanwhile, has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating "Similar, baseless allegations concerning Russia's foreign policy have been made more than once.
Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday that Russia was moving forward with the fact that "the way to effectively revive the implementation of JCPOA is to restore the balance between the nuclear and economic elements of the" agreement "so that it is in the interests of all parties."
Referring to the unresolved issues between Iran and the United States, which are currently the main obstacles to the formation of the agreement, Moscow noted: "The text of the agreement is still being drafted on the remaining issues between the United States and Iran, and a number of negotiators The final text has been agreed and the Vienna talks will continue as usual.”
In such circumstances, and considering the US threat to exclude Russia from the UN Security Council and take other paths to reach an agreement, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, wrote on his Twitter page: "And foreigners are only working to preserve and promote national interests. We will remain in the Vienna talks until our legal and rational demands are met and a strong agreement is reached."
Admiral Shamkhani's explicit statement shows that Iran, within the framework of its national interests, intends to remain in the negotiations with the current composition and reach a strong agreement in interaction with the parties present in the negotiations.
The implementation of this strategy has requirements, including the continued exchange of informal writings with the US delegation present at the talks and higher-level consultations with Russian officials to focus on commonalities that could pave the way for a strong agreement in Vienna.
The visit of the Iranian Foreign Minister to Moscow, given the new circumstances in which Russia finds itself, is definitely a platform for serious, frank, and forward-looking talks between the two countries, which in recent years have shown that despite differences in some They have regional and international issues, they can have very close, decisive and successful cooperation on issues with great complexity.
During the Vienna talks, Russia played a constructive and facilitating role for the parties to overcome the challenging issues, and in this direction, it has established effective cooperation and consultation with the Iranian negotiating team.
The Vienna talks are now moving slowly due to Washington's reluctance to make the necessary political decisions, and the real impact of other factors in accelerating the talks is almost zero.
Hussein Amir Abdullahian's visit to Moscow and the consultation of the two countries' officials can provide conditions that, while neutralizing US projections and psychological operations, blaming the other parties for creating the existing conditions, provide the necessary ground for the US to perform its duties in the Vienna negotiation process.
BY: Mohammad Ghaderi
NOURNEWS