Four days after the resumption of negotiations in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, the European Union has put forward a final text, but Tehran has not yet given its approval.
“Today, the text is on the table of the high representatives,” a European official told the press on condition of anonymity, hoping for a conclusion “in the coming weeks”. “The negotiation is over, this is the final text […] and it will not be renegotiated”, he insisted, with the desire to move quickly after already more than a year of discussions and a blockage of several months.
“However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph is a political decision that needs to be taken in capitals,” said on Twitter the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
Diplomats from all sides (Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) returned to the Austrian capital last Thursday for yet another attempt to salvage the moribund 2015 deal.
The pact, known by its English acronym JCPOA, aims to guarantee the civilian nature of the nuclear program of Iran, accused of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, despite its denials. But following the unilateral withdrawal from the agreement by the United States at the instigation of Donald Trump – and the reinstatement of American sanctions which are stifling its economy – Tehran has gradually freed itself from its obligations.
The objective of the talks, in which Washington participates indirectly, is to put the process back on track.
“Now the ball is in the capitals’ court and we will see what will happen,” added the European official. “No one is staying in Vienna. Insisting on the “quality of the text”, he said “we strongly hope that it will be accepted” and that an agreement will be reached “in a few weeks”.
Iran replied reviewing the 25-page document. “As soon as we received these ideas, we shared our initial response and thoughts […]but naturally, the clauses require a global examination and we will transmit our views and our remarks to the other parties,” an Iranian foreign official said, quoted by the IRNA agency, without further details.
The obstacle of undeclared sites
There remains a major obstacle: Iran is asking the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to close the question of undeclared sites, where traces of enriched uranium had been found.
“It has nothing to do with the JCPOA. At the same time, Iran says it is fundamental. I hope Iran and the IAEA will have an agreement because it will facilitate a lot of things,” the European official said.
“The agency should completely settle the matter […] technically and away from irrelevant and non-constructive political issues,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned on Sunday.
Arms Control Association expert Kelsey Davenport, however, warned against abandoning the investigation. “That would be a mistake” she wrote on Twitter. “If the United States and other states that are part of the agreement did not support the UN body, it would undermine its mission and the broader objectives of non-proliferation. »