DUBAI/PARIS : Iran displayed three ballistic missiles at an outdoor prayer esplanade in central Tehran on Friday as talks in Vienna aimed at reviving Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers flounder.
The missiles — known as Dezful, Qiam and Zolfaghar — have official ranges of up to 1,000 km and are already-known models, the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said.
A report by Iranian state television said the missiles on display were the same types as those used to strike US bases in Iraq.
The display came on the second anniversary of a ballistic missile attack on bases housing American troops in Iraq in retaliation for the US drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020.
Diplomats from countries that remain in the 2015 nuclear deal — Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — are working with Tehran to revive the accord, which had sought to limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for lifting of economic sanctions.
HIGHLIGHT
The missiles — known as Dezful, Qiam and Zolfaghar — have official ranges of up to 1,000 km and are already-known models, the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said.
American diplomats are present at the nuclear talks in Vienna but they are not in direct talks with Iranians. The accord collapsed in 2018 when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
Western diplomats have indicated they are hoping to have a breakthrough by the end of January or early February, but sharp differences remain with the toughest issues still unresolved. Iran has rejected any deadline imposed by Western powers.
“I remain convinced we can reach a deal. Bits of progress have been made in the last few days,” Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, told BFM TV and RMC Radio. “We have been heading in a positive direction in the last few days, but time is of the essence, because if we don’t get an accord quickly there will be nothing to negotiate.”
The eighth round of talks, the first under Iran’s new hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, resumed on Monday after adding some new Iranian demands to a working text.
Another important development this week was the arrival in Vienna of South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister to discuss with Iran, the US and other parties the possible release of $7 billion in frozen Iranian assets held in the Asian country because of US sanctions.
Any release would need to be approved by Washington.
The ministry said in a statement that the vice minister had agreed with the Iranians that the release of the frozen assets “should take place in an urgent manner.”
“It will be discussed at the sanctions removal working groups in Vienna,” an Iranian official said, clarifying that the funds would not be released immediately.
Western powers have said progress was too slow and negotiators had “weeks not months” left before the 2015 deal becomes meaningless.
