A senior Russian diplomat says the Vienna talks aimed at the removal of US sanctions and revival of the 2015 nuclear deal can be wrapped up within days but the United States is not ready to take the necessary steps.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations, said according to his country's assessments the talks “can be completed in almost one or two days.”
The remaining issues are “not complicated”, he stressed, adding that it seems the US is “not ready for the resumption of negotiations,” Russia's state-run TASS reported on Wednesday.
The remarks come as negotiations, which started in April last year in Vienna, remain stalled since August as Washington refuses to remove sanctions that were slapped on the Islamic Republic by the previous US administration of Donald Trump.
This is while after taking office, the Biden administration had criticized his predecessor's decision to scrap the deal, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and vowed to reverse the measure.
On the contrary, the Biden administration officials have upped the so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran and on several occasions announced that the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear accord are no longer their main focus.
Iran envoy: US must choose diplomacy over pressure, confrontation if it really seeks JCPOA revival
There are signs that the United States made a decision to at least "freeze" the negotiations, Ulyanov said, noting that it is “irresponsible” to stop the talks based on “implausible pretexts” while there are “literally few steps left to the finish line.”
He also warned that there is a “risk of escalation” which can become “uncontrollable” in case the talks are not completed.
Ulyanov, however, hoped that the recent statements by senior US officials about JCPOA would not be their “last word”.
US National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby on Tuesday accused Iran of "cracking down on protestors" and "sending drones to Russia", noting that at this time Washington does not “see a deal coming together anytime soon.”
“What we’re focused on right now are practical ways to confront Iran in those areas and not on the Iran deal,” Kirby said.
US needs to respond positively to Iran's goodwill in JCPOA revival talks: China Foreign Ministry
Observers believe Washington is trying to use these baseless accusations against Iran to gain leverage in talks and negotiate from a position of strength.
Tehran has repeatedly rejected reports of drone delivery to Russia for use in the Ukraine war while also condemning the US and other Western countries for stoking the deadly unrest in the country with "interventionist remarks".
Iran’s intelligence bodies have found footprints of American and other Western spy agencies in recent violent riots inside Iran which erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in mid-September
Iran reaffirms readiness
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also touched upon the Vienna talks while speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Amman, noting that the Iranian delegation held a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on the sidelines of the Baghdad Conference ll on Tuesday.
Biden’s humbug: Tells Iran ‘in hurry’ to revive JCPOA; tells US media ‘not a priority’
“In the past two to three months, the American side made some hypocritical statements … they had been repeatedly announcing their preference for the final step for the return of all sides to the agreement in Vienna but behaved hypocritically in the media,” he said.
The Iranian delegation stressed in the meeting that if the American side's claim of pursuing diplomacy is true, then they should not seek leverage through these statements in the media, the top diplomat said.
“We assume that different sides are returning to realism and we also announced that if all of our red lines are observed, we are ready to take the final step for reaching an agreement.”
Iran has demanded that the United States provide assurances that it would not leave the JCPOA again before it could reenter the agreement. Washington has refused to give a legally enforceable guarantee, leaving Iranian negotiators suspicious of the Biden administration’s seriousness in the talks.
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/12/21/694903/Vienna-talks-can-be-completed-in-less-than-two-days
While trafficking young girls, he was also part of an effort to export military-grade systems to governments around the world
Rachel Marsden
By Rachel Marsden, a columnist, political strategist, and host of independently produced talk-shows in French and English.
rachelmarsden.com
When I first moved to New York, I walked into my new dentist’s office and genuinely wondered whether I’d accidentally wandered into a Victoria’s Secret audition.
The waiting room was full of stunning young women. Eventually I learned the dentist shared space with a modeling agency. You couldn’t tell who was getting veneers and who was getting a contract until you were halfway down the hallway.
Jeffrey Epstein’s life operated on the same architectural principle: two businesses shoved into one building, one involving underaged girls, the other involving powerful political figures, including some tied to the Israeli government. Not exactly whitening trays and catwalks, but equally disorienting.
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The bloc wants to use the funds to back a “reparation loan” to Ukraine
US officials want the EU to return Russia’s frozen assets once it signs a peace deal with Ukraine, contradicting the bloc's plans to use them to finance Kiev, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing diplomats.
EU leaders want to issue a €140 billion ($160 billion) “reparations loan” to Kiev using frozen Russian funds as collateral, despite opposition from bloc member Belgium, which has repeatedly warned that the scheme carries financial and legal risks.
According to the outlet, American officials told the EU’s sanctions envoy, David O’Sullivan, during a visit to Washington this summer that they planned to return Russia’s frozen assets after a peace treaty is concluded.
Under the purported US 28-point peace plan leaked to media in November, $100 billion in frozen Russian assets would be invested in American-led “efforts to rebuild.....more below
Paris has authorized the use of private military companies to provide assistance to third countries, the SVR noted
France is still exploring ways to directly involve itself in the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has said, citing a new government decree that authorizes the use of private military companies to assist foreign states engaged in armed conflict.
The agency claimed there is little ambiguity about which country France has in mind, given its sustained backing of Kiev. It argued that Ukraine’s mobile air-defense units and limited Western aircraft cannot fully counter Russian strikes, and that operating French-made Mirage fighter jets and other advanced systems requires expertise Ukraine does not possess.
The SVR stressed that the presence of French private military companies in Ukraine under the guise of “reference operators” would be regarded by Moscow as direct engagement by Paris in hostilities. It has also warned that such personnel ...
