On 27th December 2021, the eighth round of talks took place to restore Iran’s landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers has commenced on a cautiously hopeful note. The meeting was held in Vienna. The nuclear deal which is also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is an international agreement that exchanges Iran’s nuclear ambitions for international sanctions relief. The participant of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) had their meeting on Monday. During the meeting of bilateral and trilateral talks were held between the different delegations. But there was no direct meeting or talks between the Iranian and United States’ representatives as Tehran refused to talk directly with Washington after the US in 2018 abandoned the accord. The meeting was further continued on Tuesday as well. The Iranian delegation had previously declared that it is ready to remain in Vienna until a deal acceptable to Tehran is reached. Iran has been demanding the full lifting of the sanction against them and a guarantee that the US will not leave the deal like the last time.
After the meeting, Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani stated that the delegations agreed that “good progress” was made during the seventh round that ended 10 days earlier, and there is now a “suitable framework” to take the talks forward. Further, “The important thing in this Joint Commission meeting was that different sides emphasised on the importance of prioritising the lifting of sanctions, and also verification and guarantees during the eighth round.”
President Ebrahim Raisi stated “We have come a long, long way since the beginning of the negotiation. We have incorporated the sensitivities of a new Iranian government. So from the point of view of the coordinator, we are exactly at the point where we should be if we want to get the final successful result.” He further stated, “If we work hard in the days and weeks ahead, we should have a positive result. It is going to be very difficult. Difficult political decisions have to be taken both in Tehran and in Washington.”
