The reason for the slowdown in the Vienna talks; American obstacles or Russian demands!?
Although the talks in Vienna still delay because of the political decision of the Americans, they are trying to portray Russia's request as an obstacle to the formation of the agreement by creating a media hype.
NOURNEWS - While the Vienna talks were slow due to the American reluctance to make a political decision on issues remaining within Iran's red lines, and Western officials and media falsely accusing Iran of blocking the agreement, Russia's request became a new reason to add to American excuses.
A few days ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the American sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine crisis are an obstacle to reaching an agreement on the Iranian file. That is why Moscow asked Washington to give it written guarantees that the recent sanctions imposed on Russia would not affect its trade relations with Iran.
This request had two interpretations in the political and media fields. The first is that it is a bet by Moscow and an obstacle to reaching an agreement in Vienna, and the second interpretation is that it is a sign of Russia's seriousness in the Vienna talks and a guarantee that Iran will benefit from a possible agreement. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to Russia's request by saying: The new sanctions related to Russia have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal. And he added: It is not only in the interest of the United States, but also of Russia that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.
Admiral Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said that Iran understands the Russian request, writing on his Twitter account, “The only factor affecting our interaction with the P4+1 countries is the long-term guarantee of securing the interests of the Iranian people.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, also spoke about the need to receive Russia's request through diplomatic channels, noting that Iran's nuclear cooperation should not be affected by any sanctions. He added: “Russia's approach to reach a collective agreement in Vienna was constructive. We expect them to provide us with more details through diplomatic channels.”
In a similar reaction, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said: “While we advocate maintaining the red lines, we will not allow any external factor to affect our national interests in the Vienna talks.”
After these reactions; The Russian Foreign Minister, in a telephone conversation with Amir Abdollahian, on Monday, reiterated Moscow's position and said that the nuclear deal should provide the same interests to all members in all areas.
At the same time Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan said: “There was a misunderstanding in this regard. We ask the Iranian people not to listen to the statements of foreign radio stations like Radio Farda. We will explain this officially to our Iranian friends through diplomatic sources”.
These developments occurred during the past few days, while the talks in Vienna are still suspended pending the American political decision, as America is trying to present Russia's request as an obstacle to the formation of an agreement, through causing a media hype. In the meantime; Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri returned to Tehran on Monday evening for talks with senior officials, while EU chief coordinator Enrique Mora said: “it is time to make political decisions to end the talks in the next few days”.
Of course, this sentence that the European Union coordinator said is addressed to the United States of America. The coming days will determine whether the negotiations that stopped at the American obstacles will reach the stage of discussing the Russian request or not?
BY: Mohammad Ghaderi
NOUNEWS