TEHRAN – Iran has not held any direct negotiations with the Americans during Vienna talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an MP quoted Iran’s top negotiator Ali Baqeri as saying.
Spokesman for parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mahmoud Abbaszadeh gave details about the meeting between Baqeri Kani and the panel’s members.
The top negotiator, the MP said, made it clear that the Iranian and American teams have not held any direct talks in Vienna so far.
Baqeri Kani also pointed to the positive trend of the nuclear negotiations and reaffirmed Iran’s goodwill and determination to bring them to an appropriate conclusion, the lawmaker added.
He said what can be gathered from the meeting is that there is currently no clear prospect about direct talks with the U.S. and hence they are out of question.
The MP also said while the Vienna talks are making progress, there are major outstanding issues that need to be negotiated and agreed upon.
Last week, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, also said in a tweet that “contact with the American delegation in Vienna has been through informal written exchanges, and there was no need, and will be no need, for more contact, for now.”
Iran and the remaining participants to the JCPOA have been holding talks in Vienna since last April with the aim of reviving the deal by bringing the U.S. into full compliance.