The editor of the flagship hardliner newspaper Kayhan in Tehran wrote on Wednesday that the Vienna nuclear talks have had no result that would benefit Iran.
Hossein Shariatmadari, who often speaks for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, claimed in the commentary that the United States and its allies, as well as Iran’s “pro-Western reformists” tried hard to force the Islamic Republic into an agreement but the Tehran’s negotiators "powerfully resisted" the pressures.
He added: "Unlike what the officials and the media claim in the West, and Iranian reformists echo, no results that would serve Iran's economic interests were obtained in the negotiations."
Iran’s reform camp that has lost political power constantly reminds the hardliners that removing sanctions is important for alleviating the serious economic crisis Iran faces. Many academics and experts also urge the government to reach a deal with the West to lift the crippling sanctions.
Shariatmadari further said that Western media and officials refuse to say that the United States has not responded to Iran's "lawful and logical demands," instead, they keep saying that a draft acceptable by both parties has been prepared and it is now Iran's turn to take the final step and finalize the nuclear agreement.
After 16 months of multilateral talks, the European Union this week presented what it called a “final draft” to all sides to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, the JCPOA. The US has said it is ready to accept it but Iran apparently wants more haggling.
Shariatmadari charged that while the US refuses to guarantee that it would remain faithful to its obligations under the JCPOA, it wishes to portray Iran as the party that prevents the lifting of the sanctions. Meanwhile, he praised the Iranian negotiators for their resistance against those who wanted to blackmail them, and blamed former President Hassan Rouhani for the 2018 US withdrawal from the JCPOA.
Shariatmadari claimed that the Vienna negotiations have remained futile in the four areas of safeguards, lifting of sanctions, guaranteeing that the United States will not leave the agreement, and the step-by-step implementation of the agreement. Meanwhile, he criticized Iran's reformists for insisting that Iranian negotiators should have agreed to the United States' terms.
He said Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani has told the Americans that an agreement without a guarantee will not be acceptable to Iran as some former US officials have said that the next government of the United States will certainly do away with this agreement.
In a related development, a petrochemicals executive, Hamid Hosseini has warned that failure to reach an agreement might lead to public dissatisfaction and a new wave of migration from Iran. Hosseini, who is also the deputy chief of the Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce, said, the talks have to be fruitful as this is the only way for Iran to improve its economy. He further warned that if the talks in Vienna remain futile, the UN sanctions against Iran may return to exert further pressure on Tehran to come to terms with the international community.
Meanwhile, an ultraconservative political activist, former lawmaker Hossein Naqavi Hosseini told reporters in Tehran as long as all of the sanctions are not lifted, reaching an agreement will not solve Iran's problems. "America will always use the remaining sanctions to prevent Iran from benefitting from any possible agreement," he said. Naqavi further added that "it is highly unlikely that Iran would accept Europe's proposal as there is no benefit in it."
Bolton told Iran International that there are several American public figures who face direct threats. Axios reported Wednesday that US law enforcement have also told former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he is a possible target of an Iran plot.
In its denial issued immediately after an indictment was unsealed by the Department of Justice against a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Tehran accused Washington of “weaving a tale” to exert pressure in the nuclear talks.
But as the news of a serious and real threat against former and possibly current US officials sinks in, critics of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) with Iran are bound to ask the Biden administration not to continue negotiations with Tehran.
Bolton himself warned in a statement on Wednesday, “Iran’s nuclear-weapons and terrorist activities are two sides of the same coin. No responsible US government should think otherwise. America re-entering the failed 2015 Iran nuclear deal would be an unparalleled self-inflicted wound…I remain committed to making sure it does not happen.”
At the same time, current national security adviser Jake Sullivan issued a statement from the White House saying, “Should Iran attack any of our citizens, to include those who continue to serve the United States or those who formerly served, Iran will face severe consequences. We will continue to bring to bear the full resources of the U.S. Government to protect Americans.”
But the DOJ clearly says Iran tried to kill Bolton and many would say this is enough reason for “severe consequences”. However, Reuters quoted an unnamed US official as saying that Washington does not believe the assassination plots should affect talks the JCPOA talks with Tehran.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeted, "Why is Biden still negotiating with Iran on a new “deal” when he knows they are actively trying to assassinate former government officials on U.S. soil?"
Norman Roule, a long-time senior Central Intelligence Agency official and an expert on the Middle East tweeted that the plot against Bolton “was almost certainly approved by the senior-most leadership of Iran & undertaken only after a determination that its exposure would not invite a significant response.” He added that “Iran will likely continue these operations absent swift and meaningful international actions. The failure to demonstrate deterrence risks Iran undertaking an operation that, if successful, could ignite a regional conflict.”
Kylie Moore-Gilbert an Australian-British academic who was a hostage in Iran tweeted, “Not sure how the US can claim its negotiating with Iran in good faith over a seemingly-mythical JCPOA at quite literally the same time that Iran is funding multiple terror plots that aim to assassinate US citizens on US soil.”
After 16 months of negotiations to revive the JCPOA, Iran is still considering a draft submitted by the European Union that coordinates the talks. US has said it is ready to lift the crucial economic sanctions if Iran agrees to return to the limitations set by the 2015 agreement, but Tehran wants more sanctions to be lifted.
One group of sanctions are those imposed on the IRGC and its affiliated entities for involvement in terrorism, which now seem impossible for the administration to agree to, given the DoJ indictments of an IRGC member.
A former State Department official, Gabriel Noronha, who opposes the JCPOA tweeted, “So again today, we saw Jake Sullivan with another stern warning to Iran, that only threatens consequences ONCE Iran attacks a US citizen. There would be no measures taken beforehand, just afterwards when Bolton/Pompeo are dead. This is Russia/Ukraine all over again.”
State media was quick to point out Monday, as four days of EU-moderated negotiations between Iran and the United States ended in Vienna, that Iran did not regard a text presented by Enrique Mora, the talks coordinator, as a finished agreement on restoring the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
Javad Karimi Ghodousi, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Javan newspaper that Iran’s position in negotiations had been strengthened by the recent preparation of additional centrifuges, used for enriching uranium, including relative advanced models barred under the JCPOA.
Ghodousi contrasted the “admirable” actions of the government of President Ebrahim Raisi, in office a year, with the previous administration of President Hassan Rouhani, under which “Iran’s nuclear centers were closed and the growth of nuclear science and technology in the country was stopped…”
Nour News, affiliated to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), said the aim of the Mora text was to “force Iran to accept proposals under pressure.” Nour suggested the EU as talks coordinator “lacked the authority to present proposals as a final text.”
The official news agency IRNA reported a Monday phone-call between Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Josep Borrell, the European Union foreign policy chief, in which Amir-Abdollahian said Iran expected all parties to talks to “show seriousness and resolve in order to achieve the final text of the agreement.” IRNA portrayed Borrell being willing to continue efforts to bring the viewpoints of all parties closer.
‘Behind every technical issue…’
As American and Iranian negotiators prepared to leave Vienna Monday, Borrell tweeted that “what can be negotiated has been negotiated.” He added that “behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals.”
A US State Department spokesman said Monday that Washington was waiting for Iran’s reaction: “They repeatedly say they are prepared for a return to mutual implementation of the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). Let’s see if their actions match their words.”
IRNA reported Monday that the Iranian negotiators would convey Iran’s “opinions and observations” in due course on what it called “some ideas concerning some of the remaining issues.”
Mora’s text has not been made public, although there have been various reports as to where agreement may have been broadly reached, and where gaps remain between Iran and the US.
The four days in the Austrian capital, with European diplomats shuffling between the Iranians and Americans in different hotels, came after Borrell in late July circulated a text designed to bridge gaps over restoring the JCPOA.
‘Fuel in 500 centrifuges…’
Critics of the JCPOA in the US have argued Iran has dragged out negotiations– which ran April 2021-March 2022 with world powers in Vienna, followed by June’s bilateral US-Iran meeting in Qatar – as it expands its nuclear program. Tehran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent purity, far above the 3.67 percent JCPOA limit and close to the 90 precent deemed ‘weapons grade.’
Iran’s decision over the Mora text – to accept it, reject it, or seek further talks – apparently rests with the SNSC, in which Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei presides. Some politicians say Iran has the best deal available and urgently needs US sanctions eased, while Ghodousi’s argument that “putting fuel in 500 centrifuges strengthened Iran’s position” could be an argument for holding out or declaring ‘victory.’
Oil prices dropped $1 a barrel Tuesday, apparently reflecting some highly guarded market optimism of JCPOA restoration, which traders anticipate would bring around 1m barrels extra of Iranian oil exports. But oil prices have been declining since early July as prospects of lower economic growth could lower demand.