US Reiterates Direct Talks With Iran Would Facilitate Diplomacy
The United States has reiterated that direct communication with Iran would in some ways facilitate diplomacy regarding the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.
The United States has reiterated that direct communication with Iran would in some ways facilitate diplomacy regarding the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.
“I am confident that our team will be in touch with Enrique Mora and his team. Of course, he is still on the ground”, he said.
Answering a question about the last communication exchanged between Tehran and Washington, he said that if Iran and the US were able to have direct discussions "we weren’t reliant on a middleman... But regardless, we’re not going to detail a play-by-play".
Saying that the department does not have any updates on the talks to offer, Price emphasized that the administration is of the opinion that a mutual return to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the JCPOA, “would manifestly be in our national security interest because it would once again put permanent and verifiable limits on Iran’s nuclear program, a program that has been in many ways unconstrained since 2018”.
Talks to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have stalled since March, chiefly over Tehran's insistence that Washington remove the FTO designation of the IRGC, which is the only example of a sovereign state’s armed forces to be included.
However, there was little if any sign of a positive attitude in the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman’s latest statement about the visit. Saeed Khatibzadeh said: "The United States has violated Iran's rights and has taken things from the Iranian nation's pocket which it should return."
Political analyst Ali Bigdeli told Nameh News website in Tehran on Monday that Mora's visit to Tehran is not likely to solve any problem. Bigdeli stressed that any breakthrough in the current situation of the talks needs a change of strategy and approach in Tehran.
Mora will stay in Tehran for more than one day, and this could mean that extensive talks are under way, although the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman's statement leaves very little hope for a "change of approach.” A change in Iran's strategy is even more unlikely following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's meeting with Syria's Bashar al-Assad in Tehran on Sunday, as the outcome of the meeting could be a bigger role for Iran in the region.
During the past weeks some Iranian observers suggested that Iran should soften its positions in Vienna as the country badly needs an agreement that would reduce the pressure of sanctions on Iran's ailing economy.
Bigdeli said Mora was not successful in his previous missions to Tehran. This is his second visit since late March. He was not successful in his first visit as the Americans rejected the idea of delisting the IRGC as a terrorist group. But he added that now Biden might need an achievement before Congressional elections in November.
Bigdeli explained that "Talk of IRGC has derailed the nuclear negotiations. Now Iran needs to change its strategy about the region and problems are unlikely to be solved unless it adopts a pacifist approach to its regional and international strategy."
He added: "Iran needs to change its ideological anti-West approach which has led to the current deadlock. This has brought Israel closer to our borders…For once we should begin to change our views about the missile program, regional issues, human rights and so on if we really want to solve our problems."
Bigdeli stressed: "We should prioritize our national interests. Without doing so, Mora's visit and similar initiatives are not going to change anything. Our current approach has led to our isolation and created all of these economic problems."
Meanwhile, another Iranian political commentator and former diplomat Jalal Sadatian has also told Nameh News that "There is not much hope in reaching an agreement in Vienna unless one or both parties make essential changes to their positions."
He said, "Iran should have allowed the previous government [Hassan Rouhani] to forge an agreement as everything was ready [last year]. But that opportunity is lost.,” and now the IRGC issue is preventing a deal, waiting for a political decision to be made in Tehran [by Khamenei]."
Sadatian added that "in the current situation the US is not in a hurry as it knows that we have problems in our country." He went on to say that Iran is now more cautious in its relations with Moscow after the war in Ukraine and is counting to some extent on building better ties with Europe. But if the talks are not conclusive, pressures inside Iran will mount to a level higher than what we see today."
