Iran says US complicating Vienna talks

The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani, said that nuclear talks are becoming more “knottier by the hour” due to the “absent US political decision.”

“US approach to Iran’s principled demands, coupled with its unreasonable offers and unjustified pressure to hastily reach an agreement, show that US isn’t interested in a strong deal that would satisfy both parties,” he wrote on Twitter.

US approach to Iran's principled demands, coupled with its unreasonable offers and unjustified pressure to hastily reach an agreement, show that US isn't interested in a strong deal that would satisfy both parties. Absent US political decision, the talks get knottier by the hour.

— علی شمخانی (@alishamkhani_ir) March 10, 2022

Shamkhani’s statement came hours after Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri, returned to the Austrian capital, Vienna, to complete talks with the US.

Tehran is seeking to achieve significant progress by resolving the issue of selling oil easily without any restrictions, the entry of oil money in foreign currency into Iranian bank accounts and enjoying all the economic benefits provided for in the nuclear agreement.

In 2018, the US withdrew from the international nuclear agreement signed in Vienna in 2015 aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting the international sanctions against Iran. It then re-imposed sanctions on Tehran that severely affected the Islamic Republic’s economy.

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