TEHRAN -- Iran on
Monday ruled out any U.S. preconditions for reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, including the release of American prisoners held by the Islamic Republic while blaming Washington for the slow pace of talks between Tehran and world powers in Vienna.
U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley was quoted as saying Sunday that the United States was unlikely to return to the nuclear deal unless Tehran released four U.S. citizens Washington claims it is holding.
“Iran has never accepted any preconditions from the start of the Vienna talks. The U.S. official’s comments on the release of U.S. prisoners in Iran is for domestic use,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news conference.
Iran has been in talks with the remaining signatories of the deal since April to reinstate it by bringing the U.S. back to compliance and removing its sanctions on Tehran. In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump had ditched the agreement and reimposed the most draconian sanctions ever on Tehran, prompting Iran to gradually scale back its compliance after waiting in vain for one year to see if the other parties protect it from the coercive measures.
But after eight rounds of talks, the thorniest points remain the speed and scope of removing sanctions on Tehran, including Iran’s demand for a U.S. guarantee of no further coercive steps.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA said earlier on Monday that preconditions set by Malley would slow down the talks in Vienna.
Iran has repeatedly said it is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States. Tehran says Iranians detained in the U.S., mostly for allegedly breaking sanctions, are being unjustly held.
“Iranians held in U.S. prisons are in jail for fabricated reasons, but American nationals have been convicted in Iran,” Khatibzadeh said.
However, Khatibzadeh said Tehran and Washington can reach “a lasting agreement on both separate paths (the Vienna talks and the prisoner exchange) if the other party has the will.”
The two sides have done prisoner swaps in the past. Navy veteran Michael White, detained in 2018, returned home in June 2020 in return for the United States allowing an Iranian physician Majid Taheri to return Iran.
In December 2018, Washington and Tehran worked on a prisoner exchange in which Iran freed U.S. citizen Xiyue Wang, who had been held for three years on spying charges, and the United States freed Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani, who faced baseless charges of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Khatibzadeh pointed to the grave situation of Iranian citizens held hostage, stating that Tehran has either directly or indirectly raised the issue with the U.S. on multiple occasions.
About the Vienna talks, the spokesman said the sides have already made good progress in four areas.
“The parentheses have been reduced and the ideas have turned into words. The important point is that all parties in Vienna agree that the United States must not quit the nuclear deal again,” he said.
Khatibzadeh said, “We have presented very practical and realistic ideas in Vienna, and we think that our ideas will enable dialogue in the field of guarantees. Of course, it is natural that we do not re-negotiate what has already been negotiated behind closed doors.”
Iran, he said, is looking for a sustainable and reliable agreement, with guarantees provided by the U.S. being the right path.
Head of the Russian negotiating team Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted that Iran and the P4+1 group of countries are working on the drafting of an “important part of an outcome document of the Vienna talks” despite certain outstanding issues.
“It was a more or less successful exercise although some outstanding issues still remain in the relevant segment of an outcome document,” Ulyanov said.