China urges removal of all disturbances on Iran talks
VIENNA — A Chinese envoy said on Thursday all parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, should remove all disturbances and speed up the negotiation process to hash out an arrangement for the United States and Iran to resume compliance with the deal.
Wang Qun, Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, made the appeal at a meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA in Vienna.
The envoy also called on the United States to immediately and unconditionally return to the nuclear deal. He said Washington should lift all sanctions relating to the Iran nuclear issue — be it sanctions on Iran or long-arm jurisdiction measures on third-party entities and individuals.
Lifting the sanctions is not only the key to the success of the negotiations, but also what should be done for resuming JCPOA implementation and safeguarding the deal, he said.
The burning issue is the United States should come up with a concrete plan to lift the sanctions, and based on this, Iran comprehensively resumes the implementation of the JCPOA, Wang said.
The Joint Commission of the JCPOA resumed its talks on Thursday in Vienna, after a blackout struck the Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran on Sunday morning. Iranian authorities have accused Israel of “sabotage”.
Wang said China has noticed the sabotage of Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, and “we strongly condemn it and firmly oppose it.”
China has also noticed that relevant countries on Wednesday issued a statement expressing concerns over Iran’s announcement of installing additional centrifuges and increasing its uranium enrichment purity. “It is hoped that all parties will exercise restraint and not overreact,” Wang said.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the launch of more centrifuges and 60-percent uranium enrichment was “a response to the evils”.
“You want to empty our hands in the negotiations, but we will enter the negotiations with a fuller hand,” Rouhani said in a speech.
Escalating tensions
Teheran’s move could create more uncertainty, possibly prompting a reassessment of other parties’ positions on the Iranian nuclear issue and escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, said Wang Jin, an associate professor at Northwest University of China.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom released a joint statement on Wednesday, voicing “grave concern” over Iran’s uranium enrichment plan. “In light of recent developments, we reject all escalatory measures by any actor,” the statement said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday that Washington and its NATO partners “take very seriously” Iran’s decision to boost enrichment.
Rouhani on Thursday dismissed concerns about Iran’s plan, saying: “We are not looking for a nuclear bomb. It is wrong to think that we are paving the way for the production of the atomic bomb.”
This week, voices were clearly heard in Iran asking the government to halt the Vienna talks after the Natanz attack. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called on the Iranian people not to “fall in the trap” set up by Israel.