"In the last round of the Vienna talks, after two stages of negotiations, we reached a single document and agenda, and there was a significant progress in the previous two rounds of talks. In the negotiations, in general, I did not see the position of certain European countries, specially France, as constructive. We hope that the French side will play a constructive role and the Iranian people's rights will be restored realistically," Amir Abdollahian said in a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Tehran on Thursday.
"The second problem with the three European countries is that in practice they did not show any new initiative in the negotiations.
He described the coordinator role played by EU Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Enrique Mora Mora and EU Foreign Policy Chief Joseph as positive, and said in the previous rounds of talks the American side sent some unwritten messages to the meeting and received the necessary answers.
"Iran pursues the talks in Vienna with good will and seriousness. The other sides should have no doubt if they mean to give one point and take ten, Iran will not accept it. Our goal is to materialize (implementation of) obligations by all parties under the nuclear deal. When they (the western sides) say that we are concerned about the progress of Iran's nuclear program, we say out loud that if they want their concerns to be obviated, all sanctions should be lifted. The day the opposite parties show their serious will, will be the day when we can talk about the return of all parties to their undertakings under the nuclear deal," Amir Abdollahian said.
Elsewhere, he said that Iran is determined to make the Shalamcheh-Basra railway operational as soon as possible.
"We are determined make the Shalamcheh railway to Basra to go into operation at the earliest and the [Iranian] Minister of Roads will leave for Iraq next week in that regard," he added.
Amir Abdollahian said that in their meeting the two diplomats emphasized cooperation with the Iran-Iraq Judicial Committee to speed up work on the prosecution of the perpetrators behind the martyrdom of anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Abu Mahdi Muhandis.
"I heard a piece of news from the Iraqi counterpart that confirms the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq," he added.
The Iranian foreign minister also said that they had consulted on the general cancellation of visas for citizens of both sides.
Fuad Hussein, for his part, said that "in today's meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister, we emphasized expansion of relations, including in economic fields. This was a good opportunity for us to talk about regional issues, specially the security situation in Iraq and the region".
"We talked about Iraq-US relations, and the strategic dialogue between the Iraqi government and the American side, and the agreement between the two sides to withdraw US troops from Iraq," he added.
"It is important for us to discuss Iran's relations with Iraq's neighbors. Iraq played an important role in supporting the talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and we hope that the fifth round of talks will take place," Hussein said.
Last Monday, the Iranian foreign ministry rejected any direct talks with the US during negotiations between Tehran and the Group 4+1 (China, Russia, Britain and France plus Germany) in Vienna aimed at removal of sanctions against Iran.
The Iranian negotiation team has not had any direct talks with the US during the recent negotiations in Vienna, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in a press conference in Tehran.
“Some messages have been received through (EU Deputy Foreign Policy Chief) Enrique Mora in written and unwritten forms since the beginning of talks in Vienna on the issues of negotiation (and nothing more) and the answers have been given immediately,” the spokesman said.
"Despite its claims, the US has not yet made any tangible proposals or text to the G4+1", Khatibzadeh said.
Iran makes any efforts to reach an agreement in the talks, he said, adding that if the other side offers a tangible text, an agreement can be reached in the shortest possible time.
He went on to say that the Iranian team just thinks about achieving results in the talks but they do not trust the US intentions, and unfortunately certain members of the European troika.
"We hope that we will reach a result if the other side removes the sanctions effectively and verifiably", Khatibzadeh stressed.
His comments came after the US national security adviser claimed that he had sent a direct message to Tehran about Iran's nuclear program.
Asked about relations between Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Khatibzadeh said that as a member of the IAEA, Iran has always adhered to its undertakings under safeguards agreement and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
He added that everything that Iran has done has been in accordance with the provisions of Iran's international undertakings, and the Agency has been aware of all our actions.
The level, amount and quality of enrichment is in line with the needs of Iran's peaceful nuclear program, and the Agency was aware of what Iran has done so far, Khatibzadeh noted, adding that Iran will keep the Agency informed of everything in the future.
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