The Iranian foreign ministry strongly defended Thursday its negotiators sent to Geneva to save the Iranian nuclear deal, after criticism voiced in recent days by state media.
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The representatives of the States still parties to the agreement concluded in Vienna in 2015 (Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, United Kingdom) have been meeting since April 6 in the Austrian capital in order to bring the United States back to the of the pact and to bring Tehran back to its commitments to limit its nuclear program. A year after the administration of former US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of this pact in May 2018 and faced with the return of heavy US sanctions, Iran has started to break away from its key commitments.
The Iranian delegation sent to Vienna is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who criticized the English-language public broadcaster Press TV for citing anonymous sources on the negotiations.
State television then aired a program on Wednesday which hinted that Iranian diplomats had been duped by the United States over the 2015 deal and were again ready to make concessions, a view shared by the fringe. ultraconservative of the country.
The United States is present in Vienna but has no direct contact with the Iranians.
The European Union mediates between the two sides.
"Pseudo-documentaries" and "insults and slanders"
"A small but noisy minority have used all of their power to target Iranian officials in Vienna,"
the ministry wrote in a long statement. He accuses in particular state television and its English-speaking channel of having broadcast
"pseudo-documentaries"
and
"insults and slanders"
, showing the enemies of Iran as
"all powerful and intelligent
beings
who have duped "
Iran. This
"harms negotiators and diplomatic efforts,"
adds the ministry. In its statement, the ministry said it will soon publish
"non-confidential negotiating documents"
relating to the agreement.
On Wednesday, a US official said the United States had started sharing with Iran
"examples"
of sanctions it was prepared to lift. Tehran calls for the lifting of all sanctions and says it is ready to return to its commitments after having verified it in practice. According to European diplomats, "progress" has been made in Vienna
"but much remains to be done"
. The last round of talks ended on Tuesday and talks are scheduled to resume next week.