Iran says presents draft proposals on sanctions removal, nuke restrictions at Vienna talks

Ali Bagheri Kani,Iranian deputy foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator, arrives at the venue of Iran nuclear deal talks in Vienna, Austria, Nov 29, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

TEHRAN, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's chief negotiator in the Vienna talks announced on Thursday that two draft texts containing Iran's proposals on sanctions removal and nuclear restrictions have been presented to the parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Logically, the other side should now examine these documents in order to get ready to enter into serious talks with Iran on the texts," Ali Bagheri Kani told Iranian media in the Austrian capital.

He voiced hope that the JCPOA parties will be able to review Iran's drafts and reach their conclusions about them "in the shortest time possible."

Bagheri also warned about efforts by non-parties to the agreement to derail current diplomatic work to revive the deal.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Primer Minister Naftali Bennett urged an "immediate halt to negotiations" with Iran and "the implementation of tough steps by the world powers" against Iran in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Bennett's office said in a press release.

Photo taken on Nov 29, 2021 shows a meeting of the Joint Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna, Austria. (EU Delegation Vienna/Handout via Xinhua)

Israeli media reported on Monday that the Israeli government has been contacting U.S. and European officials over the past two weeks to provide its alleged intelligence that Iran would be taking steps to enrich uranium at a weapons-grade degree of purity.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), dismissed on Wednesday the claim that Iran would be enriching uranium at a 90-percent degree of purity, noting that the IAEA is the only monitoring institution with a presence at Iranian nuclear sites.

"There is no 90-percent enrichment at the moment in Iran. You have enrichment at five percent, you have enrichment at 20 percent, you have enrichment of 60 percent ... but we don't have any information about 90-percent enrichment," Grossi said in an interview with French state TV.

In his remarks to the press on Thursday, Bagheri said he warned his JCPOA counterparts on Wednesday about "the outlook and approach of actors outside the talks to negatively affect the negotiation process."

The current round of JCPOA talks resumed this week in Vienna after a nearly six-month pause, about three months after the current Iranian government took office in late August.

Representatives from Iran and the P4+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, as well as the European Union, are seeking an agreement on the way to remove U.S. sanctions on Iran, in exchange for the reimposition of restrictions and enhanced international monitoring on Iran's nuclear program.