Arash Karami writes:\u00a0 As nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers in Lausanne continue past the soft deadline of March 31, Iranian officials have made statements regarding sanctions removal that may show more flexibility than previously assumed.\u00a0 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran\u2019s supreme leader who has final say on the nuclear program, has previously said that all sanctions on Iran must be removed and that the deal will not be a multistep deal. Members of parliament and other officials have also stated this. Presumably, this means that once a deal is signed, all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be removed.<\/p>\n
As with all other comments made by the supreme leader, competing sides attempt to interpret Ayatollah Khamenei\u2019s statements through a bias that is beneficial to their own talking points. However, comments by Abbas Araghchi, one of Iran\u2019s top negotiators, and Mehdi Mohammadi, a prominent conservative analyst whose views reflect the previous more hard-line nuclear negotiators in Iran, there appears to be a public consensus that not all sanctions will be removed at once but rather the removal of sanctions must be clearly stated.<\/p>\n
Speaking from Lausanne to Iranian reporters April 1, Araghchi said: \u201cWe cannot have an agreement that does not contain the removal of sanctions…..The types of sanctions and the issuer of sanctions are diverse: the Security Council, the European Union and America. These have to be separated and it has to become clear in what order it will take place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Araghchi continued: \u201cWe insist that in the first step of the agreement all the financial, banking and oil sanctions be removed and find a clear framework for the removal of sanctions that are possibly associated with other parts. Either way, without a completely clear and precise outlook for the removal of sanctions, certainly we will not have an agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a column titled \u201cDos and Don\u2019ts of a Political Agreement,\u201d Mohammadi also addressed the issue of sanctions, clarifying his views on how they should be removed. \u201cAll the sanctions have to be immediately removed after Iran implements its commitments within the framework of the final step,\u201d he wrote. Second, \u201call the timing has to be in an fixed, clear and unconditional text.\u201d
\nThe article also referred to other instances of \u201cfinal rounds\u201d and \u201cfinal steps,\u201d implying that Iranian negotiators and analysts understand that, given the complex nature of how sanctions were applied, a very complex procedure would be required to remove them. This nuance may not be enough for some members of the six world powers, but it’s a clearer picture of what the Iranians are thinking regarding the removal of sanctions.
\nThe official deadline for these nuclear talks is the end of June, though by the end of March there was supposed to be an announcement of a political framework agreement.<\/p>\n
Arash Karami writes:\u00a0 As nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers in Lausanne continue past the soft deadline of March 31, Iranian officials have made statements regarding sanctions removal that may show more flexibility than previously assumed.\u00a0 Ayatollah Ali … Continue reading ![\"Iran](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Iran-Negotiations.jpg\")
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