Iran has put many offers on table

A source close to the Iranian delegation in the Vienna talks says Tehran has put many offers on the table and encouraged the other side to come up with new proposals to resolve the outstanding issues.

"Putting proposals on the table is quite a normal practice in any negotiation, and negotiation in its essence is a business of exchanging proposals, counter-proposals, and offers," the source told Press TV on Saturday.

The source added that the Iranian delegation, which has been engaged in very intensive talks in recent days, carefully considers any new proposal, if there is any.

"Also, it should be noted that the Iranian delegation has a clear mandate and negotiating instruction, and developments outside the scope of the talks in Vienna, have no effect on the negotiating stances of Iran," the source pointed out.

According to the source, Iran is not the party that is "slow walking in the talks."

Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani told Press TV back in December that the Iranian side had not received any constructive initiative or proposal from the opposite side during the talks in the Austrian capital.

The Iranian diplomat added that Iran’s delegation had informed the opposite side of its views on differential points through modifications and proposals that it had put on the table.

“When it comes to these points of difference, we have so far received no proposal and initiative from the opposite side,” Bagheri Kani said.

Envoys from Iran and the five remaining signatories to the deal -- Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany -- have been negotiating in the Austrian capital for 10 months with the aim of reviving the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), through bringing the US back to the deal.

The two sides have bridged some gaps since the talks began last year, but differences remain, especially on the issue of US sanctions. Tehran wants all sanctions imposed by the administration of former US President Donald Trump removed and says the issue is its red line.

On Saturday, the 35th day of the eighth round of the talks between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries in Vienna, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani and Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov held detailed talks on possible ways to salvage the landmark deal through bringing the US back to the deal.

Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally left the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had lifted. He also placed additional sanctions on Iran under pretexts irrelevant to the nuclear case as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.

In May 2019, following a year of strategic patience, Iran decided to roll back some of the restrictions on its nuclear energy program, resorting to its legal rights under the JCPOA, which grants a party the right to suspend its contractual commitments in case of a non-performance by the other side.

The administration of US President Joe Biden says it is willing to compensate for Trump’s mistake and rejoin the deal, but it has retained the sanctions as leverage.