The Writing of the Final Nuclear Agreement Text with Iran Continues in New York

A member of the Iranian negotiating team announced on Friday, April 23, that the nuclear negotiations in Vienna have concluded and that discussions for drafting the comprehensive agreement text will resume on Monday in New York. According to IRNA, Hamid Baidi-Nejad wrote on his Instagram page: "This round of nuclear negotiations ended today (Friday) around 5:30 PM Tehran time. The basement hall of the Coburg Hotel, which humorously resembles the main hall of Fordow for the participating delegations, was the venue for the final meeting." This Iranian team member added: "Given the New York summit starting next Monday, it was decided that the nuclear negotiations would continue in New York. A key point of this summit was the initiation of the nuclear agreement text, which will continue in New York." Meanwhile, two Western diplomats told the Associated Press that the focus of this three-day round of negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group in Vienna was on the process of lifting sanctions against Iran. These two diplomats, who wished to remain anonymous, also stated that discussions regarding the final agreement with Iran will continue next week in New York. In this context, Sergey Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, said on Friday that there is now a clear outlook for the tasks that need to be accomplished, and that expert-level negotiations will resume in New York next Wednesday. According to Itar-Tass, Ryabkov also stated that no agreement was reached regarding the transfer of Iran's enriched uranium reserves abroad during these negotiations. However, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Europe and America, said on Friday during a meeting with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Austria that the issue of lifting sanctions is a fundamental topic of the negotiations and it is essential that this matter is clearly addressed in the text of the agreement. Meanwhile, the Central News Unit reported that members of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team left Vienna for Tehran after three days of negotiations. According to this report, the agenda for this round of negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group in Vienna was the sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Abbas Araqchi, the Deputy Foreign Minister and senior members of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, previously stated on Friday: "Our priority in this round of negotiations was discussions related to sanctions and clarifying the dimensions and details of it, and starting to draft agreements in this regard, and we are currently engaged in this work." The issue of lifting sanctions against Iran, should a comprehensive nuclear agreement be reached, has been one of the most contentious topics surrounding negotiations between Iran and global powers in recent weeks following the political understanding in Lausanne. Iran and the 1+5 countries announced on April 2 in Lausanne, Switzerland, that they had defined the "frameworks" for the final agreement. According to the Lausanne understanding, the scope of Iran's nuclear program will be limited in exchange for the lifting of European Union and United States sanctions and United Nations Security Council resolutions against the Islamic Republic.