Iran’s FM says talks with US on final agreement to begin Friday

Tehran, June 17 (IANS) Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that negotiations between Iran and the United States on a final agreement will begin on Friday following the two sides’ official signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war, according to the official news agency IRNA.

Araghchi made the remarks at a meeting with foreign diplomats in the Iranian capital Tehran while elaborating on the peace MoU that was finalised on Sunday between Iran and the United States, Xinhua news agency reported..

“The new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States on reaching a final agreement will probably begin on Friday at the venue that will be decided,” he said, explaining that owing to the difficulties in reaching an agreement between Iran and the United States that resulted from the US and Israeli “criminal aggression” against the country, “we ultimately decided to divide the negotiations into two stages.”

He said the first stage pertained to the finalisation of an MoU on issues such as the war’s end, the Strait of Hormuz, US anti-Iran naval blockade, Iranian frozen assets and the reconstruction of war damages, adding that in the second stage, negotiations will continue for a 60-day period to reach a final agreement on nuclear issues and the removal of sanctions on Iran.

Araghchi noted that in the first stage, the most important thing that will happen is the declaration of an end to the war, stressing, “Based on the decision we made, the end of the war was also announced on Monday morning when the agreement was finalized, but the official start of the MoU will be on Friday.”

The minister said the “immediate and permanent” end of the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, is perhaps the most important issue in the MoU, noting that owing to the connection that the war in Lebanon and Israel’s “aggression” against southern Lebanon found with the war against Iran, and the fact that the two fronts became somehow connected to and dependent on each other.

Araghchi described the war’s end in Lebanon as an “inseparable” part of the Iran-US peace MoU, stressing “The war’s end also includes the end of (Israel’s) occupation. The war’s end is not complete without the Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the (Lebanese) territories they occupied in this war.”

Araghchi emphasised that from now on, Iran considers any military attack by Israel against Lebanon and the continued occupation of the Lebanese territories a violation of the peace MoU.

The United States, Pakistan and Iran early Monday announced the finalisation of the MoU on ending the war following weeks of negotiations, adding that it will be officially signed in Switzerland on Friday.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US bases and assets in the region.

–IANS

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