Iran hails nuclear talk ‘progress’ but Raisi insists US sanctions end

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi holding a press conference ahead of departing to Qatar at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, on February 21, 2022. – Leading gas producers meet in Qatar to discuss how to answer frantic world demand, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to stay away as Ukraine tensions soar, diplomats said. (Photo by IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP)

by Tim Witcher
Agence France-Presse

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) – Iran Monday signalled “significant progress” in talks on reviving a stalled accord on its nuclear programme but President Ebrahim Raisi, on his first visit to a Gulf state, again insisted that Washington must lift its crippling sanctions.

Iran’s ultraconservative president, a personal target of the US sanctions, spoke out ahead of a summit of natural gas exporting nations in Qatar. The summit will take place against the backdrop of mounting tensions in Ukraine and reported progress in efforts to restore the 2015 deal limiting Iran’s nuclear programme.

The United States withdrew from the nuclear accord in 2018 under former president Donald Trump, saying it was not tough enough in curtailing Iran’s weapons ambitions. Tehran has always denied seeking an atomic bomb.

But months of negotiations in Vienna have brought the two sides closer to a revived deal.

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani arrives at the Coburg Palace, venue of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) meeting that aims at reviving the Iran nuclear deal, in Vienna on February 8, 2022. – After months of stalemate, progress has been made in recent weeks to revive the 2015 agreement that was supposed to prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb, a goal it has always denied pursuing. (Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP)

Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday that “significant progress” has been made and the number of outstanding obstacles had been “considerably reduced”.

“But the problems that remain are most difficult, the most difficult and most serious to be resolved,” it added.

Talks on reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) resumed in the Austrian capital in November, after originally getting underway in April before stalling for months after Raisi won the presidency in June.

(FILES) This file photo taken on February 8, 2022 shows a cameraman filming the Hotel Palais Coburg in Vienna, venue of diplomatic talks on Iran’s nuclear programme. – A deceptive calm reigned on February 17, 2022 in the square in front of Vienna’s luxury Palais Coburg hotel, giving little sign of the fraught talks. Aside from one or two television cameras keeping watch outside for the envoys drawing up in black saloons, there are no indications that the negotiations to revive the 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers could achieve a breakthrough in the next few days — or be set on the road to failure. (Photo by ALEX HALADA / AFP)

The dialogue involves Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia directly and the United States indirectly.

After arriving in Doha and meeting Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani — a close US ally who has encouraged the two sides to narrow their differences — Raisi again took aim at the US sanctions that have ravaged his country’s economy.

‘Lift the main sanctions’

“The United States must show their desire to lift the main sanctions,” he said.

“To reach an accord, it is necessary to guarantee the interests of the Iranian people, in particular the lifting of sanctions, (give) a strong guarantee and end dossiers of a political character.”

Raisi was named in US Treasury sanctions in 2019. The trip to Qatar is only his fourth abroad since he took office in August.

Qatar has added the Iran nuclear dispute to its list of diplomatic hotspots where it has taken a behind-the-scenes mediation role and the emir called for more dialogue to settle the showdown.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani meet at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, southern Germany, on February 18, 2022. – During the 58th Munich Security Conference running from February 18-20, 2022, international diplomats and experts meet to discuss topics such as global order, human and transnational security, defense or sustainability. (Photo by Ina Fassbender / POOL / AFP)

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani went on an unannounced visit to Tehran shortly before the emir met US President Joe Biden this month in Washington.

Sanctions have badly hit Iran’s oil and gas revenues and the Tehran government is anxious to get new investment and customers.

The gas exporters’ summit has been dominated by Ukraine tensions that have raised prices and European fears that its supplies of Russian gas may be cut.

The United States has asked Qatar to help Europe by preparing emergency supplies if the Ukraine crisis worsens.

A handout picture released by the Qatar Amiri Diwan shows Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (L) receiving Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi upon his arrival to Qatar on February 21, 2022. – Leading gas producers meet in Qatar to discuss how to answer frantic world demand, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to stay away as Ukraine tensions soar, diplomats said. (Photo by Qatar Amiri Diwan / AFP)

But producing nations say they will not be able to provide substantial amounts of replacement gas if sanctions against Russia do affect Western Europe.

Raisi and the Qatari emir will be joined at Tuesday’s summit by Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Keith Rowley. Energy ministers from the other seven forum members, who include Russia, will also take part.

Ministers from the 11-member group met on Monday to approve a summit statement that industry analysts predicted would touch on the lack of spare supplies that could help Europe, where consumers are already paying record prices for gas.

Qatar and other countries have insisted that massive investment is needed in gas infrastructure, and that they need the certainty of long-term contracts to be able to guarantee supplies to Europe.

The European Union has long resisted the 10, 15 and 20-year contracts signed by other major customers for Qatar’s gas, which include China, Japan and South Korea.

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