Iran FM: We can never backtrack on our redlines in Vienna talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in a phone conversation with EU foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell underlined that his country does not backtrack on its redlines in Vienna talks.

Iran seeks a good agreement through the ongoing talks in the Austrian capital on the revival of the 2015 deal, but is determined not to cross its headlines, Amir Abdollahian said in the phone talks on Saturday night.

During the conversation, the two sides discussed the latest situation of the talks that are aimed at reviving the landmark deal, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Amir Abdollahian also expressed gratitude for the efforts made by the EU's foreign policy chief and his deputy, Enrique Mora, who is also the coordinator of the JCPOA revival talks. "It is the Islamic Republic's final decision not to cross its red lines" during the Vienna talks, Iran's foreign minister emphasized.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir Abdollahian called it necessary for the opposite side in the Vienna talks to take the required “political decision” that could pave the way for the achievement of an agreement.

“Iran is after a good agreement, but [one that would be] within the framework of [the country’s] national interests and does not violate its red lines,” the top diplomat said.

Amir Abdollahian and Borrell stressed that the talks have reached a sensitive and important juncture, adding that all the negotiating parties have gone the major part of the distance that they should cover.

Meanwhile, Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani will return to the Austrian capital of Vienna to continue the eighth round of talks with senior representatives of the five remaining parties to the 2015 Iran deal on resolving the remaining issues pertaining to the agreement's revival. Bagheri Kani, who flew to Tehran last week for a short stay within the framework of ordinary travels to the capital, will return to Vienna Sunday night to pursue the negotiations "on the basis of a clear agenda with the purpose of settling problems in the way of achieving an agreement," IRNA reported.