Rouhani: Western Countries Agreed to Lift All Main Sanctions on Iran

By Staff, Agencies 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that the parties in Vienna talks have accepted to remove all main sanctions targeting the country’s oil, petrochemical, shipping and insurance sectors as well as the Central Bank of Iran.

“We have taken the main big step, and the primary agreement has been reached,” Rouhani said on Thursday, while speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate a number of Oil Industry projects.

He further stated that Iran’s negotiating team, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi, is still in talks over details of the final agreement “but the administration has done its job.”

“Three months ago, I was wondering whether we in this administration can do this, but we did break coronavirus and sanctions,” he added, praising the Iranian people for their patience in achieving the victory.

Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement, namely Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain, began efforts early last month to revive the deal that was nixed by former US President Donald Trump.

For its part, the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] said on Thursday that it is still in talks with Iran on how to proceed with the deal, adding that it will provide an update within days.

“Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Vice-President of Iran and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, on 21 February agreed on a temporary bilateral technical understanding [for up to 3 months] that remains in effect,” the UN watchdog said in a statement.

It added: “The Agency and Iran are currently in consultations regarding the implementation of the existing understanding. The Director General will provide an update to the [IAEA] Board of Governors in the coming days.”