European Union Foreign Policy Chief and lead coordinator of the Vienna talks Josep Borrell and the Iranian foreign minister held a telephone conversation on Monday.
Borrell appreciated the efforts of the Iranian delegation and the other teams during the Vienna talks, referring to the great efforts of all parties in the course of negotiations.
He said the Vienna talks have reached a critical stage and all parties need to help advance the negotiations through flexibility and by taking into account each other's capabilities and limitations.
For his part, Amirabdollahian thanked the EU foreign policy chief and lead EU negotiator and coordinator for the Vienna negotiations Enrique Mora for their efforts.
The Iranian foreign minister said some hasty moves, repeatedly playing with the text, and a lack of serious will on the part of the West to reach a good and credible agreement in Vienna have led to unnecessary prolongation of the talks, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
Referring to the serious efforts of Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Baqeri and the presentation of realistic initiatives by the Iranian negotiating team, Amirabdollahian stressed that it is necessary to include the legitimate rights and demands of Iran in any proposal.
Amirabdollahian and the EU foreign policy chief agreed to continue close consultations between the two sides to advance the negotiating process. They also described the overall negotiation process as positive.
The Iranian foreign minister stressed that Tehran will not back down from its red lines, which are based on logic and realism.
Iran and the remaining participants to the JCPOA have been holding talks in Vienna since April last year with the aim of reviving the deal by bringing the US into full compliance.
The US left the JCPOA in May 2018 under former president Donald Trump. The Vienna talks began on a promise by Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, to rejoin the deal and repeal the so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran. Biden, however, has so far failed to undo Trump’s own undoing of Barack Obama’s Iran policy, which led to the JCPOA in June 2015.
The eighth round of the Vienna talks began on December 27 with a focus on the removal of all sanctions that the United States had imposed on Iran after its unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA. The US is not allowed to directly attend the talks due to its pullout in 2018 from the deal with Iran.