BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 24. It is estimated that some progress has been made in discussions on Iran's nuclear program between the parties, in recent days, the ex- Iranian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Jalal Sadatian said, Trend reports.
“Of course, the progress achieved between the parties cannot be fully evaluated positively, because there are many points to be resolved,” he noted.
As for positive steps in the direction of building trust between the parties in discussions regarding Iran's nuclear program, Iran intends to solve some of its internal issues (economic crisis, etc.) and achieve certain achievements on the eve of the US presidential election, Sadatian added.
The ex-ambassador also pointed out that it can be assumed that an agreement was reached between the parties on the exchange of prisoners, and in return, a part of Iran's frozen assets - $3 billion - was unblocked.
On June 10, 2023, Iranian co-chairman of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, Yahya Al Eshaq said that about $3 billion of Iran's assets frozen in Iraq has been unblocked.
Recently, Iran and the US have been indirectly negotiating with the mediation of Oman. In the discussions, the parties are negotiating a number of confidence-building issues, including the exchange of prisoners in the two countries. In addition, Iran and 3 European countries (the UK, France and Germany) are conducting talks regarding Iran's nuclear program.
Recently, there are indirect discussions between Iran and the US and direct discussions between Iran and 3 European countries (the UK, France and Germany).
In the discussions, Iran is mainly trying to achieve the abolition of sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, the removal of its funds frozen in foreign countries, and the abolition of the restriction on the export of crude oil. In return, the US and Western countries want Iran not to acquire an atomic bomb, to keep its nuclear program under control, and to reduce the level of uranium enrichment.
Iran discloses various programs related to its nuclear industry to reflect that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, according to the information obtained by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has increased the amount of highly enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months, and currently, the country's enriched uranium reserves are 4,745 kilograms. This is 15 times more than the amount of uranium allowed for Iran in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Although Iran claims that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, it is requested to provide facts and guarantees to prove it at the world level.
In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year. To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.
On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.
Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5. On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.
On May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany), and imposed new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.
Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
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