Iranian MPs Ask for Stronger Guarantees in Vienna Talks

A screengrab from a video shows Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh. (AFP)
A screengrab from a video shows Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh. (AFP)
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Iranian MPs Ask for Stronger Guarantees in Vienna Talks

A screengrab from a video shows Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh. (AFP)
A screengrab from a video shows Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh. (AFP)

In a letter to their ally, hardline conservative President Ibrahim Raisi, a majority of Iranian parliamentarians demanded “stronger guarantees” from the US and “maintaining the red lines” in reviving the nuclear agreement.

The MPs' demands came at a time when Tehran and Washington are exchanging blame for postponing negotiations.

More than 190 parliamentarians have signed the letter, urging Raisi to ensure that the parties involved in the Vienna talks give Iran stronger guarantees.

Conservative legislator Mohammad Saleh Jokar told Fars News Agency that the “deputies signed statements stressing the observance of the framework set by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for the negotiating team in the Vienna negotiations with the 4+1 group.”

He added that the letter to Raisi “emphasizes that negotiations must take into account the lifting of all sanctions, including the free sale of Iranian oil.”

The government's Mehr News Agency reported that the representative of the city of Abadan, MP Mojtaba Mahfuzi, issued a verbal warning to the Iranian nuclear negotiating team at the beginning of Tuesday’s parliamentary session, saying that “the nuclear negotiating team must not retreat from the country's rights and red lines.”

Hardline MP Nasrollah Pejmanfar, who represents the city of Mashhad, said: “It is necessary to lift oil sanctions, allowing us to sell oil freely to any country we want after reaching an agreement.”

The Iranian official news agencies did not address the issue of the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard in the statements quoted by the parliament deputies.

Negotiations have been taking place in Vienna for months between Iran on the one hand, and China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany on the other hand, to revive the Iranian nuclear agreement, whose effects evaporated after the US withdrew in 2018.

In other news, the US and Iran exchanged blame on Monday for a weeks-long impasse that has held up a return to the 2015 deal that sought to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

“We will not be going to Vienna for new negotiations but to finalize the nuclear agreement,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

“If Washington answers the outstanding questions, we can go to Vienna as soon as possible,” he added.

“At the moment, we do not yet have a definitive answer from Washington,” he said.

But in Washington, Khatibzadeh’s State Department counterpart Ned Price pushed back, suggesting it was Tehran that was not giving way to make a deal possible.

“Anyone involved in the talks knows precisely who has made constructive proposals, who has introduced demands that are unrelated to the JCPOA, and how we reached this current moment,” Price said.



Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
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Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday hailed a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants as the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s decades-long fight against terrorism, but warned the process would not involve political bargaining.

Speaking at a ruling AK Party consultative meeting in Kızılcahamam, near Ankara, Erdogan said the gesture by a faction of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down and burn its weapons marked “the dawn of a strong and great Türkiye.”

“With the end of a 47-year-old plague of terrorism now in sight, we are opening the doors to a new era,” Erdogan said. “The process ahead will uphold Türkiye’s dignity and respect the sensitivities of its people. No one will be allowed to compromise the honor of this nation.”

The symbolic surrender ceremony took place Friday near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, a region long known to harbor PKK fighters.

While Erdogan stopped short of detailing next steps, Turkish sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that gradual legislative moves are expected in parliament starting this week. These may include reduced sentences or pardons for PKK members as part of the wider reconciliation effort.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands. Previous attempts at peace talks collapsed in 2015, triggering years of renewed violence.

Erdogan, who has increasingly adopted nationalist rhetoric, stressed that any future measures would be carefully calibrated. “This is not an open-ended negotiation. It is a national process conducted with resolve and clarity,” he said.

Erdogan on Saturday ruled out any political negotiations behind a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants, insisting Türkiye’s ongoing campaign to eliminate terrorism is not the result of concessions or backroom deals.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that the ‘Terror-Free Türkiye initiative we are pursuing is not born of negotiations, bartering, or give-and-take,” Erdogan said in his speech to the ruling AK Party’s consultative gathering in Kızılcahamam.

“Let everyone rest assured: we will never allow the honor of the Republic of Türkiye to be violated. Türkiye will not bow down — and we will move forward with this understanding.”

His remarks came a day after a faction of the PKK held a public ceremony near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, where fighters laid down and burned their weapons in what supporters described as a symbolic gesture rather than full surrender.

Pro-PKK figures said the act was meant to preserve the “dignity of the armed struggle,” and called on Turkish authorities to permit Kurdish political participation and release jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999.

Erdogan on Saturday also outlined the next phase in the country’s push to end nearly five decades of Kurdish militancy, saying a parliamentary committee would be formed to examine the legal framework for disarming the PKK.

“We hope the Turkish parliament will support the process with a constructive and facilitative approach,” Erdogan said during a speech to members of his ruling AK Party in Kızılcahamam.

“With the end of terrorism, the Republic of Türkiye will emerge stronger and more self-confident than ever before,” Erdogan said. “We will redirect our energy toward development and prosperity, rather than the fight against terrorism.”

The president vowed to expedite the process while honoring national sensitivities. “We will closely monitor the disarmament step by step. As the terrorist group lays down its arms, Türkiye will grow in fraternity, deepen its democracy, and move into the future with greater stability and security,” he said.