Iran may have stood down from its hard-line stance that conditioned negotiations with the United States to Washington’s returning to the nuclear deal it had left in May 2018 before imposing hard sanctions on Tehran.
Although President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif have repeatedly said that Washington’s return to the nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA), was Tehran’s precondition for negotiating with the United States, Tehran appears to have softened its stance recently.
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who is officially in charge of Iran’s JCPOA dossier, said on July 7 that the United States may take part in the talks between Iran and 4+1 (France, UK, Russia, China, and Germany) if Washington lifts some of the sanctions it has imposed on Iran.
He was the second Iranian official to have spoken about the softening of Iran’s stance. Previously, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would allow negotiations between Iran and the United States if the U.S. president lifts the sanctions he has imposed on Iran.
Alavi had to take back his statement as he had named Khamenei, who does not want to be associated with a reconciliatory stance. However, Araqchi said the same thing without the reference to Khamenei.
Hard-line MP Mojtaba Zolnouri, who is the chairman of the national security committee at the Iranian Parliament, confirmed Araqchi’s statement, saying the United States can join the talks and turn the 4+1 into 5+1 once again if it lifts sanctions and rejoins JCPOA.
These comments lend further significance to the visit to Tehran by Emmanuelle Bonne, the French president’s special envoy. French President Emmanuelle Macron had said earlier in an interview with Japanese TV that there are small measures that can reduce tensions between Teran and Washington and save the two sides from embarrassment.
Later, he asked Iran to stop its gradual reduction of commitments to the nuclear deal and called on the U.S. president to lift some of the sanctions imposed on Iran in order to facilitate negotiations between the two states.
Macron held talks with Rouhani over the phone, but so far Rouhani had called for lifting all of the U.S. sanctions against Iran. The key point is the difference between “some” and “all” of the sanctions.
Araqchi, who has called for lifting some of the sanctions, however, said Iran’s priority is the sanctions on Iran’s international banking and oil exports.
Some hard-liners in Iran, including former diplomat Mohammad Javad Larijani, have repeated Khamenei’s stance and called on Rouhani to refuse negotiations with the United States under any circumstance.
Araqchi’s comment about “priorities” could be another indication of a change in Iran’s position.
Iranian officials have previously said repeatedly that they would be happy with smaller, temporary measures that would solve Iran’s urgent economic problems. Such a measure could be a step forward for Iran while fundamental differences over Tehran’s nuclear program will still remain unresolved.
The change in position may have been motivated by the reluctance of European companies to use the EU’s financial mechanism for trading with Iranian companies. The move can also shift the diplomatic dynamics between Iran and Europe to Iran and the United States.
The shift based on small-scale developments is not likely but could affect Iran and Europe’s roadmap in the long run.
