European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel meets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara
Cavusoglu said the Turkish and EU sides agreed on the protocol ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Erdogan…reports Asian Lite News
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in line with “demands and suggestions from the EU side”, rejecting criticism that Ankara snubbed her.
Cavusoglu said the Turkish and EU sides agreed on the protocol ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Erdogan, reports dpa news agency.
“The seating arrangement was made in line with suggestions from the EU side,” Cavusoglu told a joint press conference with his Kuwaiti counterpart Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah in Ankara.
We are aiming for an honest partnership.
A partnership between the EU & Turkey that enables us to strengthen what brings us together and address what divides us.
It is still the beginning of the road. The weeks and months ahead will show how far we can go on this road together. pic.twitter.com/Xe6ZHqP1IP
Cavusoglu’s remarks came after the European Commission expressed disappointment that its President was relegated to a sofa on the side, while European Council President Charles Michel was offered the only chair next to Erdogan during their visit at the Turkish presidential palace.
The unequal seating arrangements prompted social media allegations of sexism or a purposeful affront against the commission.
Cavusoglu called the criticism against Turkey “very unfair”, adding the meeting was held “within the frame of international protocol rules and Turkish hospitality”.
“We would not put this so clearly if it wasn’t for the accusations,” the top Turkish diplomat added.
Cavusoglu described the meeting as “very productive”.
In a Facebook post late Wednesday, Michel described the situation as “regrettable” and added the EU leaders decided to focus on the substance of the meeting rather than cause a “public incident”.
Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, assemble outside the town of Bashiqah, some 30 km northeast of Mosul, Iraq
The decision was made following the US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein, while the US side was headed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken…reports Asian Lite News
The US and Iraq have agreed to redeploy the remaining Washington-led coalition combat troops outside the war-torn country to contribute in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terror group, an official statement said.
The joint statement issued on Wednesday said the decision was made following the US-Iraq Strategic Dialogue, Xinhua news agency.
The Iraqi delegation was led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein, while the US side was headed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
The strategic dialogue via video teleconference, which was held in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement signed in 2008 between the two sides, also covered security and counter-terrorism, economics and energy, political issues, and cultural relations, according to the statement.
It said the two sides “reaffirmed their mutual intention to continue bilateral security coordination and cooperation”, stressing that the redeployment of the US and coalition forces is based on “the increasing capacity of the Iraqi forces”.
“The mission of US and coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq, with the timing to be established in upcoming technical talks,” the statement added.
It was a privilege to speak with Iraqi Foreign Minister Dr. Fuad Hussein at my first U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue as Secretary of State. I'm optimistic about the road ahead after the review of the progress we've made in each area of our broad and strategic partnership. pic.twitter.com/Z6HozvRZRk
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 7, 2021
The Iraqi government in turn committed to protecting the international coalition personnel, convoys, and diplomatic facilities, it said, adding that the two sides emphasised that the current military bases, on which US and coalition personnel are present, are Iraqi bases and their presence is only for supporting Iraq’s efforts in the fight against the IS group.
The relation between Baghdad and Washington strained after January 3, 2020, when an American drone struck a convoy at Baghdad airport, which killed Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq’s paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.
The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution on January 5, 2020, requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq.
Fuad HusseinMinister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Iraq(Twitter)
The US airstrike also pushed unidentified militias to launch a series of rocket and mortar attacks on Iraqi military bases housing US troops across Iraq, as well as the American embassy in the Green Zone in central Baghdad.
The tension pushed the two sides to launch sessions of strategic dialogue starting from last June 12, and the US pledged to cut its troops in the country.
The US-led coalition forces have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against IS militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. (File Photo: IANS)
Blame the dressing for rape! What an excuse! The prime minister should have known that he could not have satisfied everyone. He worsened his problem, and confirmed his own image as a misogynist, when he sought to defend the indefensible by blaming rising incidence of rape on ‘vulgarity’ from outside and on ‘obscenity’ of women dressing and behaving in public …. Dr Sakariya Kareem
Pakistan is again found fighting its demons within – of misogyny that encourages rape of women and children – by pointing fingers at the demons outside, like ‘vulgarity’ purveyed by the Western nations. A non-Western India is also brought in as a convenient alibi for the people to swallow.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, a Western-educated man heading a nation of overwhelmingly conservative Muslims, walked into a dangerous minefield of contrasting views on this vexed subject by addressing a long question-answer telethon.
He should have known that he could not have satisfied everyone. He worsened his problem, and confirmed his own image as a misogynist, when he sought to defend the indefensible by blaming rising incidence of rape on ‘vulgarity’ from outside and on ‘obscenity’ of women dressing and behaving in public.
That opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box. Now, rights groups, the glitterati and the Tweeterati are all trolling him. At the other end of the social spectrum, it is doubtful if he has made the conservatives and the Islamists happy. But his political opponents, most of them who have been misogynists themselves, would be chuckling.
Mr Khan did not touch upon this but the major reason why the crime of rape is so grossly under-reported in Pakistan, with an estimated nine out of 10 cases not even being registered with the police. That hurdle is the tendency of a misogynistic society to blame adult female victims for ‘bringing’ the crime on themselves by their appearance, actions, etc.
For one who spent his young years in the West, with a reputation of having enjoyed the social life, he should have known that whatever he said would open him to criticism. But then, as a politician for nearly three decades, Mr Khan has also been close to and mentored by those, like late Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, who preached religious extremism, violence and terrorism. As opposition leader he had earned the sobriquet of “Taliban Khan.”
Mr Khan would have realised that it is one thing to preach the “rule of Medina”, and quite another to govern a society that, howsoever conservative, is diverse and where women have begun to speak up, even if oppressed, and the media spreads the message, even if suppressed.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), battling admirably on a myriad issues from violence, prison conditions, disappearance of dissenters, attacks on religious minorities and many more, is now compelled to focus on a closely related issue: attacks on women who staged the “Aurat March”, a women’s solidarity movement that occurs annually in many Pakistani cities since 2018 to coincide with the International Women’s Day. The opposition to it was particularly bad this year since the organisers were accused of engaging in saying things – which they clarified they did not – that could attract the dangerous blasphemy law.
“HRCP condemns the use of unethical and inappropriate language against women in the daily Ummat. The newspaper must publish an unconditional apology and refrain from using such language in future,” the commission said.
The HRCP tactically skirted the controversy over the prime minister’s telethon over what he said and/or implied, and chose to focus on Ummat newspaper that used expletives against the marching women and held 14 countries responsible for spreading ‘vulgarity’ that promoted crime against women in Pakistan.
The Ummat list looked like an elaboration of what the prime minister said. Both agreed on one issue: that women attract crime and criminals by dressing ‘inappropriately.’ Both blamed women and Mr Khan, while condemning crime, explained that not every male in the society had ‘self-control’ to resist what he considered ‘vulgarity’ in women venturing out alone, and dressing and behaving in public. He implicitly put the onus largely on women, wanting them to ‘behave’.
Pakistan PM Imran Khan
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) tactically skirted the controversy over the prime minister’s telethon over what he said and/or implied, and chose to focus on Ummat newspaper that used expletives against the marching women and held 14 countries responsible for spreading ‘vulgarity’ that promoted crime against women in Pakistan
Mr Khan did not touch upon this but the major reason why the crime of rape is so grossly under-reported in Pakistan, with an estimated nine out of 10 cases not even being registered with the police. That hurdle is the tendency of a misogynistic society to blame adult female victims for ‘bringing’ the crime on themselves by their appearance, actions, etc.
In a highly publicised case last November of a woman with two minor children stranded on the highway being raped, the then Lahore city police chief had suggested that the motorway rape victim bore some responsibility for her ordeal by being out late at night. He had asked why she was not accompanied by a male family member.
After a spate of such horrific rape cases – another being rape and murder of a six year old Sabina kidnapped from outside her house, President Arif Alvi last December promulgated the Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020. It expanded the definition of rape in terms of what acts constitute this crime and who can be defined as a victim, a much-needed step. The ordinance also stipulates measures to make the offence more prosecutable and act as a deterrent to its commission. These include anti-rape crisis cells; special courts for speedy trials of such cases; the establishment of a countrywide registry of sex offenders; and chemical castration of rapists, which is controversial on several fronts.
Mr Khan admitted that enacting laws alone was not enough and the society had to fight misogyny together. But, Dawn newspaper said in its editorial: “He mentioned several times that we as a society should fight rape and “vulgarity” but he never mentioned educating people on why this is wrong. By blaming vulgarity, he’s removing the onus from the rapist. What he should be saying is we must teach men that rape is wrong regardless of what the victim is wearing or doing.”
Undoubtedly, rape is not exclusive to any single country or society and occurs globally. But as Maria Amir writes in Dawn: “In Pakistan, rape culture is not only systemic, it is reinforced at every level. The idea that men simply cannot be expected to control their baser impulses in the presence of women has been normalised.”
Russian foreign minister and Pak counterpart(Twitter)
Lavrov landed in Pakistan on Tuesday for a two-day visit to discuss bilateral and regional matters…reports Asian Lite News
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and agreed to strengthen bilateral ties and deepen cooperation.
Lavrov arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday for a two-day visit to discuss bilateral and regional matters, reports Xinhua news agency.
A statement from the Prime Minister Office said that during the meeting on Wednesday, Khan reiterated that “the importance Pakistan attaches to its relations with Russia as a key foreign policy priority” and expressed satisfaction at the steady growth in bilateral ties.
Enhanced bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, industrial modernization, railways and aviation was discussed, the statement said.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Islamabad’s resolve to expeditiously conclude the requisite legal process for the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline project and commence the work as early as possible.
Views were also exchanged on the health and economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, while Khan also congratulated Russia on its development of Sputnik-V vaccine and underscored Pakistan’s procurement plans in this regard, according to the statement.
In the regional context, Khan stressed the importance of a negotiated political settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan and appreciated Russia’s efforts in promoting the Afghan peace process.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov(Twitter)
Earlier in the day speaking at a joint press conference with Qureshi, Lavrov said that his country is ready to further build counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan through supply of military equipment.
“This serves in the interest of all states of the region,” Lavrov said, adding that both countries have agreed on conducting more joint military exercises.
The visiting Foreign Minister said the increase in bilateral trade is satisfactory and expressed readiness to “further strengthen economic relations”.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov(Twitter)
He showed concern over the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
“Russia and Pakistan have agreed to further facilitate the agreement among Afghan parties through inclusive political dialogue,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to build a strong multifaceted relationship with Russia.
“There is a new approach and mindset in Pakistan for a relationship with Russia. We feel that not just we have geographic proximity but Russia is a factor of stability in the region and the world at large,” he added.
Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan continues to shrink despite big claims by the PTP government. It’s trade with Afghanistan fell by 22 percent to reach $1.18 billion during 2019-2020. This is in contrast to the claims of reaching five billion over the next three years …. Writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
Helping Afghanistan prosper economically and supplying essentials to the landlocked Afghanistan was reiterated by Pakistan at the recent Heart of Asia Conference in Dushanbe. However, facts of its trade performance tell a different story of a shrinking trade.
Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan fell by 22 percent to reach $1.18 billion during 2019-2020. This is in contrast to the claims of reaching five billion over the next three years. Official sources in Islamabad as well as Kabul admit that the target is rather ambitious and does not take into account the ground reality, especially, of Pakistan’s own capacity to deliver. Notably, Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan declined 13.6 percent to $629.3 million from $728.3 million. A few years ago, Afghanistan was the second largest export destination after the US.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks at a press conference in Kuwait. (Xinhua/Asad/IANS)
Trade Ministry sources in Islamabad explain that low trade performance has much to do with the unsettled conditions on both sides of the border and the Covid-19 pandemic. But the fact is that Pakistan has for long lost the Afghan market to its rivals – China, India and some of the Central Asian countries. The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) explains that the loss of the Afghan market is because Iran, India and China offer value-added products, relatively attractive transit tariffs, and better consignment handling facilities. China, being the supplier of value-added goods is becoming the leading competitor and taking over the lion’s share in Afghan market. Similarly, Iran offers competitive rates, better consignment handling facilities and cost-effective transportation. In Pakistan, costs for all these facilities have increased substantially over the years.
Chief of Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi
Meanwhile, the data of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) indicates that Pakistan’s trade deficit with the other regional countries narrowed only slightly during the period as imports from these countries also decreased. That, again, points to low capacity and poor performance. A conflict-hit Afghanistan has, actually, performed better. Pakistan’s imports from Afghanistan have surged, especially of essential kitchen items like tomatoes, potatoes, onions and fresh and dried fruits, as per SBP data.
As for land-based trade, Afghan trade transit resumed after Pakistani authorities decided to open up Torkham border on a 24/7 basis. However, every time there is a skirmish along the border due to movement of militant that Pakistan is pursuing, the border post gets closed to trade. As bilateral relations suffer, goods lie stranded and get pilfered. Perishable goods like fruit and vegetables get destroyed.
Afghanistan is compelled to explore other trade routes. Chabahar has come to its aid. Behrouz Aqaei, the Director General of Ports and Maritime Department of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province explained that Chabahar is believed to be the best and economical transit route into Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.
India has stepped in to help Afghanistan by sending goods via Iran’s Chabahar, or Shahid Behesti, port. In mid-April 2020, a 75,000-metric-ton consignment of Indian wheat heading for Afghanistan arrived at Chabahar to be delivered to the destination country through land borders. According to Aqaei, the Indian government sent the mentioned cargo aiming to support its trade partner during the coronavirus pandemic. The consignment consisted of 203 20-metric-feet containers that had been shipped from Kandla Port in eastern India.
Afghanistan is also acknowledging the prospect of long term change in its trade with Pakistan. Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) say that Afghanistan’s economic dependency on Pakistan has decreased following the establishment of new alternative trade and transit routes with a number of countries.
The deputy head of the ACCI, Tawfiq Dawari, aid trade and transit volume between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been decreasing. “While we use Karachi port and have bilateral trade ties with Pakistan, our trade relations have been maintained with other countries as well and the reason is that we use other countries and international markets as well,” said Dawari.
Fake news has always remained a favourite tool for propaganda, and it has become even more lethal in the age of social media…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan has been running anti-India propaganda using Pakistani social media accounts which are the new tools for propagating fake narratives.
According to the Disinfo Lab reports, Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, Islamophobia in India, Galwan valley clash, Farmers’ Protest of India are some of the incidents where Pakistan has made Anti-India fake narratives.
The report revealed that the Pakistan decided to set up a full-scale fake news industry by way of SAUSMF . SAUSMF website was hosted by Pak Cabinet Minister and close aid of PM Imran Khan – Jahangir Tareen on his server.
Disinfo Lab
It is easy to spread disinformation through twitter because of its facility to change the username(name and username).
The major findings of report, which uncovered main members of this nexus included Aftab Afridi, Awas Javed Satti, Asim Khan who has direct links with Pakistan army, team Imran Khan and Pak businessman Jahangir Khan Tareen, who was the man behind Imran Khan’s electoral victory.
Last year, security and intelligence agencies in India have identified and traced more than 5,000 Pakistan-based social media handles actively spreading fake and false propaganda on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019. Some of them are using “deep fake videos” of protests to incite communal violence in the country.
Social media(IANS)
“Some of prominent Pakistan personalities are also sharing the information through their private handles. These handles are very active for the last 48 hours,” said a source in the security establishment.
Sources said that even Arif Alvi, the President of Pakistan, is tweeting curated deep fakes. He tweeted: “Of the many messages coming from India, I am just tweeting this message. The girl is crying at police brutal violence inside a mosque at Delhi’s Jamia Millia. Prime Minister Modi’s fascist Hindutva government is at war with Muslims.”
The agencies said that Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi commands a troll brigade.
Pakistan social media handlers also tweeted fake news about casualty of a girl student in Jamia Millia during protests on Sunday.
The disasters also left 146 people injured and 8,424 others displaced, and damaged 45 public facilities…reports Asian Lite News.
The death toll due to the flash floods and landslides in Indonesia has increased much. The death toll from floods and landslides triggered by Tropical Cyclone Seroja in Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara rose to 117, the National Disaster Management Agency said on Tuesday.
“The number of bodies that have been found is 117, while 76 people are still missing,” the agency’s head Doni Monardo told a virtual press conference.
The deaths were reported in East Flores district (60), Lembata district (28), Alor district (21), Malaka district (3), Ende district (1), Sabu Raijua district (2), Kupang district (1), and Kupang city (1), the Xinhua news agency reported.
The disasters also left 146 people injured and 8,424 others displaced, and damaged 45 public facilities.
Meanwhile, 343 houses were heavily devastated, 133 were moderately destroyed and 110 were slightly damaged.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said that extreme weather such as heavy rains, strong winds, and high sea waves of up to six meters occurred after Seroja hit the Savu Sea, south of East Nusa Tenggara province.
Seroja’s wind speed will pick up to 130 km per hour on Wednesday from 110 km per hour on Tuesday.
“The wind speed is indeed increasing, but the impact on Indonesia is getting weaker because it is moving away,” the agency’s head Dwikorita Karnawati said.
The protest turned violent within hours as several thousand stick-wielding demonstrators took to the streets vandalising a number of public offices and setting them on fire, he said…reports Asian Lite News.
At least one person was killed and several others were wounded after a protest against Covid-19 restrictions turned violent in Bangladesh, police said on Tuesday.
The demonstration in the south-western town of Saltha ensued Monday evening after rumours spread that a man was beaten by officials who were monitoring compliance with the coronavirus lockdown, local police chief Mohammad Alimuzzaman told dpa news agency.
The protest turned violent within hours as several thousand stick-wielding demonstrators took to the streets vandalising a number of public offices and setting them on fire, he said.
Police fired bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators who broke into a local police station at one point, an incident that left one protester dead, Alimuzzaman said.
“The bullets were fired in self-defence,” the officer said, adding several other people incluing policemen were wounded during the clashes.
Additional police were deployed in the area as a precaution, he said.
Bangladesh on Monday began a seven-day lockdown to slow the spread of Covid-19 with many in the capital Dhaka defying the shutdown orders.
Small traders staged demonstrations in the centre of the capital on the first day of the lockdown, calling on the government to allow them to keep their businesses open as long as they followed health guidelines.
The government ordered the people to generally stay indoors and shut down means of transport and shopping malls.
Factories were allowed to operate provided the owners ensure proper health measures.
20 injured in blast
At least 20 people were injured in a blast at the residence of a Bangladesh municipality Mayor.
The incident took place at about 9 p.m. on Tuesday night when Haji Abdus Salam, the Mayor of Mirkadim municipality in Munshiganj district, was attending a meeting with councillors and other officials in the second floor of the building.
The injured people included four councillors and the Mayor’s wife. Salam however, remained safe.
Twelve of the injured were immediately taken to the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, while one person is undergoing treatment at Munshiganj General Hospital.
Meanwhile, physicians of the Dhaka hospital told the media that one of the patients has been taken to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 60 per cent burn injuries.
Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Munshiganj Sadar Police Station, said the reason behind the blast could not be ascertained immediately.
shows swearing-in ceremony of the Israeli 24th Israeli Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem.
The swearing in ceremony on Tuesday marked the inauguration of Israel’s 24th Knesset or Parliament and the ceremony started with an address by President Reuven Rivlin….reports Asian Lite News
Newly-elected Israeli lawmakers were sworn in amid uncertainties over the possibility of forming a new government two weeks after the country’s fourth election in two years also ended in a stalemate.
The swearing in ceremony on Tuesday marked the inauguration of Israel’s 24th Knesset or Parliament, reports Xinhua news agency.
The event began with an address by President Reuven Rivlin to the newly-elected 120 members of the Knesset.
He urged the lawmakers to show leadership and end the prolonged political deadlock.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin
“The Israeli people expect each one of you to show leadership,” he said in televised remarks.
Earlier in the day, Rivlin said no party leader gained enough support to form a majority government, but asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government.
Rivlin entrusted the longest-serving Prime Minister with the task as the latter held the most support, 52 seats, but still runs short of 61 seats needed to form a majority coalition in the Knesset.
The decision means that Netanyahu now has 28 days to put together a coalition government, with a possibility of a two-week extension before Rivlin tasks another candidate or asks the Knesset to choose one.
Netanyahu, who has been in power since 2009, is facing a criminal trial over corruption charges in three separate cases.
His trial in the Jerusalem District Court resumed on Monday with the prosecution’s opening arguments.
No party gained enough votes to form a majority government in the March 23 elections.
It was Israel’s fourth election in two years amid a lingering political deadlock.
The last election resulted in a broad, unstable coalition of political enemies that would have seen them taking turns in the Prime Minister’s office.
It collapsed after only a few months amid a fight about the budget.
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price informed that two working groups in the meeting were focused on respective steps for Tehran and Washington to revive the nuclear deal…reports Asian Lite News
The US has called the talks in Vienna over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “a constructive step”, but rejected Tehran’s position of “maximalist demands”
“These discussions in Vienna, even though we are not meeting directly with the Iranians, as we have said, it is a welcome step, it is a constructive step, it is a potentially useful step,” Xinhua news agency quoted State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters in Washington at a press briefing on Tuesday.
“We don’t anticipate any immediate breakthrough,” he said.
“We know there will be difficult discussions ahead but again this is a healthy step forward.”
Price noted that two working groups in the meeting were focused on respective steps for Tehran and Washington to revive the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“What is on the table in Vienna today and over the next handful of days are those initial indirect discussions about that first step, what Iran would need to do to resume compliance with the JCPOA and what the US would need to do to resume its compliance with the JCPOA,” he said.
He expected the US could have a better understanding of a roadmap for how both sides get to mutual compliance with the nuclear deal following the discussions in Vienna.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who is leading Tehran’s delegation in Vienna, said earlier in the day that the US must remove all its sanctions against the Islamic Republic in one step if it seeks to rejoin the nuclear deal.
Price, however, made clear that the US would not accept “maximalist demands” from Iran.
“I think what we can essentially rule out are the maximalist demands that the United States do everything first and only in turn would Iran then act, I don’t think anyone is under the impression that that would be a viable proposal,” he said.
The Joint Commission of the JCPOA resumed talks in Vienna on Tuesday as senior diplomats of China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, and Iran met behind closed doors in the Grand Hotel Wien.
Media reports said the US delegation led by Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley was put up at a nearby hotel.
The US and Iranian negotiators did not have direct talks, but a shuttle diplomacy approach was adopted with the intensified help of the coordinators.
Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 and tightened sanctions on Iran under former President Donald Trump.
In response to the US moves, Iran suspended the implementation of parts of its obligations under the deal.
