Iranian Official Rejects WSJ Report on Final Text in JCPOA Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian foreign ministry official dismissed a report by The Wall Street Journal that a text on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) had been completed and that negotiations in Vienna were finished.
"Given the continuation of discussions on several important remaining issues, we are not yet at a stage where we can talk about the finalization of the text," the unnamed official said on Monday.
Iranian officials have said they had already conveyed an initial response to the draft and would come back with additional views at a later point.
"The negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Iran has presented its constructive opinions to the other side with the aim of advancing the negotiations, and the outcome of the talks depends on the will of the other side to make the necessary political decisions," the foreign ministry official added, Press TV reported.
"We still believe that if appropriate decisions are made by the other side, the negotiations can be concluded quickly, but we are not at this stage yet," the official noted.
The negotiations to revive the deal through removing US sanctions on Iran have dragged on since April 2021. While the Biden administration has claimed to be ready to return to compliance with the deal which its predecessor abandoned in 2018, it has taken no practical measures to undo Washington's past wrongs.
Iranian media have dismissed the idea that the text was close to being finalized, saying there were still “a few important remaining issues” to be resolved.
"The claim that the text of the agreement will be finalized by the next few hours is false," said Nournews which is close to the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
"The information received by Nournews shows that this news report by the American media is completely false and is done with the aim of intensifying pressure on the Iranian negotiating team to give in to the excessive demands of the American side," it added.
The Islamic Republic, the outlet said, has clearly announced from the beginning that it will not sign a text until it is sure of an agreement on all the discussed issues that will fully secure the interests of the Iranian nation.
