As Iran's nuclear negotiations remain frozen despite last month's doses of optimism from the European Union, Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani revealed Tuesday that he would travel to Norway.
In a tweet on his Twitter account, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs announced that his country was continuing to hold serious and constructive talks aimed at preserving its interests, primarily lifting sanctions.
Linked to nuclear negotiations
While it was understood from this brief statement that the bizarre visit appeared to be linked to the nuclear negotiations (particularly by referring to the lifting of sanctions), the official did not provide any further details.
However, many questions surfaced, most notably the reasons for that visit to Norway specifically, not vienna, for example, which has hosted marathon rounds in recent months to discuss the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the United States withdrew in 2018, reimposing numerous sanctions on Iranian authorities.
A tunnel of mystery.
The fate of the nuclear negotiations has been shrouded in uncertainty in recent weeks, particularly after the administration confirmed last week that it was ready for the option of no consensus to revive the nuclear deal.
Tehran, on the other hand, stressed that the agreement could not be returned as U.S. pressure continued. Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdullahian claimed at the time that differing messages were reaching his country from the United States.
He also said the maximum pressure policy imposed by the former U.S. administration under Donald Trump continues, calling on President Joe Biden's administration to show a difference in its dealings with his country, referring to the lifting of sanctions.
The talks, which began in April 2021 in the Austrian capital, were suspended in March 2022 after long rounds of discussion, without understandings, particularly on some outstanding points, notably U.S. sanctions, as well as the removal of the Revolutionary Guard from the list of foreign terrorist organizations by Washington.
Weeks ago, however, the EU returned and announced that negotiations were back on track, before statements by several U.S. officials showed that the contract had not yet been resolved.