Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says an Iranian delegation is set to visit Vienna to hold talks with officials of the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) on the remaining technical issues related to Tehran’s nuclear program.

Speaking in a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Mekdad, on Wednesday in Tehran, the Iranian foreign minister pointed to the latest developments with regard to talks on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal as well as the status of Iran-Syria bilateral ties.

“We will dispatch an Iranian delegation to Vienna in the coming days” to start talks and strengthen cooperation with the IAEA officials, Amir-Abdollahian said.

He said that there was “consensus” between Iran and the IAEA, expressing hope that “from a technical perspective [and] according to what we have agreed in the past days, the IAEA would address the accusations made against Iran so that we can pass this phase of technical cooperation.”

Iran has already voiced readiness to hold technical talks with IAEA experts to discuss the accusations related to alleged undeclared nuclear sites, which were made based on false reports by the Israeli regime. Tehran has asked the IAEA to avoid politicizing the issue and focus on technical aspects.

‘Tehran, Washington exchanging messages’

Amir-Abdollahian also noted that Iran has not abandoned the talks on the revival of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Despite contradictory remarks by some American officials, the exchange of messages between us (Iran and the US) still continues,” he said.

He noted he is set to talk with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to discuss the “latest status and coordination” of Vienna talks.

The remarks come as the US special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, said on Monday that negotiations on the 2015 deal are not “really our focus now,” echoing the US officials’ lack of readiness to come back to a deal which they had left in May 2018.

The talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in the Austrian capital of Vienna in April last year, months after Joe Biden succeeded Donald Trump, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing anti-Iran sanctions.

Despite notable progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks.

Cooperation in neutralizing sanctions

The Islamic Republic of Iran has common stances with “brotherly and friendly” Syria in regional and international arenas, the Iranian minister said elsewhere. 

He said that the sides have discussed ways to boost and facilitate economic and trade ties between the two nations during their Wednesday meeting.

All these talks are aimed at encouraging the public and private sectors of the two countries in the economic section so that they can “neutralize” sanctions and use the capacities of both states, Amir-Abdollahian added. 

The minister noted that the volume of bilateral trade with Syria has marked a significant growth in recent years, noting that the sides will soon hold a joint high commission of economic cooperation to further facilitate ties.