TEHRAN -- The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the United States has offered “no tangible proposal or text” to the P4+1 group of countries in Vienna, where high-ranking talks are underway to remove U.S. sanctions against Iran.
“Contrary to what the U.S. is saying, it has offered no tangible proposal or text to the P4+1. This puts a big question mark on America’s intention,” Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a weekly news conference on Monday.
“Should the other side come to Vienna with tangible proposals, we can reach an agreement in the shortest possible time,” he said.
Asked about a U.S. national security adviser’s claim that Washington had submitted a direct message to Tehran on its nuclear program, Khatibzadeh told reporters that there have been “no direct talks” between Tehran and Washington since the start of the talks in Vienna in April.
“Regarding the Vienna talks, no direct talks have taken place with the United States in the recent months,” Khatibzadeh underscored.
He said any messages have been delivered to Iran through European Union deputy foreign policy chief Enrique Mora.
“Some messages on the issues of negotiation have been delivered in a written and unwritten form through Enrique Mora since the start of the talks in Vienna, and answers have been given on the spot.”
Iran and the remaining parties to the Iran nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), began to hold talks in the Austrian capital with the aim of reviving the U.S.-ditched agreement through the removal of Washington’s anti-Iran sanctions.
Khatibzadeh stressed that an agreement will only be reached “if the other party shows willingness to remove sanctions in an effective and verifiable manner”.
The spokesman lamented that if the other parties had begun the latest round of talks with the same attitude that they concluded the round, “we could have reached these texts sooner”.