In early January of 2022, Iran already has important stuff to do. Iran planned to have an agreement with world powers over its nuclear deal if the “Western” parties had the intention to do so. To reach the agreement, Iran demands the complete lifting of US sanctions, and guarantees that the US will not pull out of the accord again.
The United States, which withdrew from the deal in 2018, is now also participating in the discussion indirectly with other signatories states of the deal. The deal is also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA provided sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program, but reports say that Iran abandoned some curbs after US withdrawal under Trump’s presidency. According to Politico, Tehran is reported enriching their uranium up to 60%, close to weapons-grade.
According to Al Jazeera, the Foreign Minister of Iran said to reach an agreement, all sanctions that burden Iran need to be lifted. The minister also said that “Lifting sanctions means lifting all forms of sanctions stipulated in the nuclear agreement, and the sanctions that Trump reimposed contradict the terms of the agreement,” to Al Jazeera. He also stated that Iran demands guarantees that include not imposing any new sanctions and not reimposing sanctions after lifting them under any pretext.
The eighth round of negotiations to restore Iran’s landmark 2015 nuclear deal is underway in Vienna, where Iran is still looking for guarantees that US sanctions will be lifted. Amir-Abdollahian shared an indirect exchange of messages with the Americans in Vienna, and Iran heard good words from them. Another positive sign this week was the arrival in Vienna of South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister to discuss with Iran, the United States, and other parties the possible release of $7 billion of frozen Iranian assets held in the Asian country because of US sanctions.
Other signatories country has another response to this deal. According to Carnegie Endowment, France and China are determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and want to avoid all the crisis outcomes. At the same time, the UK and Russia have little interest in Iran, yet they also want to avoid nuclear weapons.
On January 9th, 2022, the deal was reportedly reached in Vienna, by which the US would lift all sanctions from the Trump administration. The statement was denied by a source close to the Iranian negotiating team. “The report is totally wrong and fake,” according to Iranian journalist Abas Aslani. Russia’s chief negotiator, Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov said that progress is being made, but achieving the desired solution will require additional time and effort, although time is running out. Western powers have said progress was too slow, and negotiators had “weeks not months” left before the 2015 deal became meaningless. Many of The JCPOA’s restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program have expiration dates. For example, after ten years (from January 2016), centrifuge restrictions will be lifted, and after fifteen years, so will limit the amount of low-enriched uranium Iran can possess.
