Ministry Rules Out Interim Agreement on JCPOA

Date: 06 March 2023 - 22:02

News ID: ۱۱۳۱۶۲

TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday ruled out the possibility of striking any interim agreement in the talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Iran would not by any means consider signing a temporary agreement in the course of the talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal and lifting sanctions on Tehran.
“What we consider is the return of all parties to the JCPOA,” the spokesman told reporters.
He said Iran’s national interests define how far it should persist with the course of the JCPOA negotiations.
“We will stay on this path as long as we observe our interests (are being fulfilled). What we emphasize is that the sanctions must be lifted and our relations with the (International Atomic Energy) Agency should be in their natural mode,” Kanaani stated.
He reiterated that Iran sticks to diplomacy in its interaction with the IAEA and believes that mutual and multilateral diplomacy is the best solution to the differences.
“Iran remains committed to negotiations and diplomacy, as it strongly believes that it can achieve tangible and practical results under such a framework,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters here.
His comments came a few days after Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi paid a visit to Tehran, held talks with Iranian officials, and issued a joint statement with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
The top Iranian diplomat noted that Grossi’s latest trip to Tehran was in line with Iran’s active diplomacy with the UN nuclear agency and yielded encouraging results.
In response to a question about the occupying regime of Israel’s threat to carry out act of sabotage in the Iranian nuclear facilities, Kanaani said,” You should ask this question from the IAEA officials.”

“Iran has utilized all recognized rights and has explored available political and legal channels, as well as international regulations. Protection of Iran’s nuclear capabilities and capacities has been carried out in light of such measures,” Kanaani said.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and the IAEA issued a joint statement on Saturday at the end of a two-day visit by Grossi to Tehran, saying both sides recognized that such positive engagements between Iran and the IAEA can pave the way for wider agreements among state parties.

Prisoner Exchange

Kananni also reiterated Iran’s readiness for a long-awaited prisoner swap with Belgium, days after the European country’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for such a move.

Following the decision “by the Belgian Constitutional Court, we can now say that the way to implement the agreement has been opened, and the Islamic Republic of Iran certainly welcomes this change,” he said.

The move would see Belgian national Olivier Vandecasteele -- jailed in Iran for 40 years for several charges including spying -- swapped for Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi.

Under a treaty Belgium and Iran signed in 2022, Vandecasteele would have been eligible to be swapped for Assadi but in December Belgium’s constitutional court suspended the implementation of the treaty.

On Friday, however, the Belgian Constitutional Court cleared the way for a swap by rejecting a legal challenge to a law allowing prisoner exchanges with Iran.

Assadi, an Iranian diplomat who was stationed in Austria, was arrested in 2018 after Belgian, French and German security establishments falsely accused him of plotting to set of a bomb at a rally outside Paris by MKO terrorists.

After three years in detention, Assadi was sentenced in Belgium to 20 years in prison in May 2021.

“We have stated that he [Assadi] must be released unconditionally, compensation must be paid, and a commitment should be given not to repeat such actions,” Kanaani said, adding that “with the recent change, we hope to see an opening regarding the diplomat’s case.”

Vandecasteele, 42, was handed multiple sentences totaling 40 years on a range of charges on January 10, but with the sentences to run concurrently he would need to only serve 12.5 years behind bars, Iran’s judiciary said noting that his verdict could be appealed.