The new government in Tehran is putting together its nuclear talks team with reports saying that the cabinet will extend the foreign ministry’s negotiations mission without drastically changing any of the former administration’s policy.
This comes when rapid discussions are being held to get Iran back to the table of negotiations.
For its part, the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied holding any direct or indirect negotiations with Washington, including on matters like the Vienna talks and reviving the nuclear agreement.
It reaffirmed that the ministry is waiting for the new cabinet to settle down under President Ebrahim Raisi.
“The nuclear deal doesn’t need mediations,” Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the ministry, said in a weekly press conference.
“There are no direct or indirect negotiations between us and the US, neither in Vienna nor anywhere else,” he added, explaining that Iran is holding talks in Vienna with four of the P4+1 group.
The four states Tehran is negotiating with include France, the UK, China, Russia, and Germany, all of which are permanent members of the UN Security Council.
New Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in a phone conversation with EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell on Friday, underlined that Tehran would continue participation in the Vienna talks provided that they secure the country’s interests and yield tangible results.
“Borrell knows that there are changes in the Iranian government... At the same time, he asked for the talks to resume urgently,” said Amir Abdollahian, but noted that setting a date for a new round of negotiations is linked to deliberations with all parties.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also pressed for the urgency needed in Tehran returning to negotiations. Lavrov and Amir Abdollahian had a phone call in which the former relayed Moscow’s call for Tehran resuming talks in Vienna as soon as possible.
“Iran has received a serious signal,” said Amir Abdollahian following his call with Lavrov.
