Iranian nuclear: negotiations will resume in Vienna, Washington foresees an agreement

Published on : 02/08/2022 – 03:32

It’s the last straight line. Iranian nuclear negotiations resume on Tuesday, February 8 in Vienna. The day before, Monday, the United States estimated that an agreement with Iran to save the 2015 agreement was “in sight” but became “urgent”.

“After consultations in the capitals with their respective governments, the participants will continue the discussions,” announced in a brief statement the European Union, responsible for coordinating this high-risk diplomatic exercise.

The negotiators had parted ways at the end of January calling for “political decisions” after the “progress” made during the month, which had made it possible to break a long stalemate.

“Despite the progress,” the talks “have reached a stage where a conclusion is becoming urgent,” a spokesman for the US State Department told AFP. “An agreement that addresses the key concerns of all parties is in sight, but if it is not reached in the coming weeks, Iran’s nuclear advances will make our return impossible” in the 2015 text, a- he added.

Finally no “direct” negotiations

The talks, which began in the spring of 2021, are between the Iranians and the remaining parties to the agreement (Germany, China, France, the United Kingdom and Russia), with the indirect participation of Washington which withdrew in 2018 , under Donald Trump. The negotiations aim to implement a “mutual return” from Washington and Tehran in the agreement, championed by current US President Joe Biden.

But time is running out. Experts say the Iranians have strayed so far from the restrictions under the 2015 deal that they are just weeks away from having enough fissile material to build an atomic weapon.

“We have long maintained that it would be more productive to speak with Iran directly,” said the spokesman for American diplomacy on Monday. “However, the talks will remain indirect, at Iran’s request. The United States has not participated in any direct meetings with Iran,” he added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz judged “the decisive moment”, in a interview with the American newspaper Washington Post posted on Monday. “We sent a clear message” to Iran: “It’s time for decisions, not to drag out the process,” he said. “We hope they take this chance.”

“Last step”

Russia considered this to be the “last stage” of the negotiations. “We are five minutes from the finish line,” said negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov in an interview published Monday by the Russian daily Kommersant. According to him, a “draft final document” of twenty pages has been developed, and can serve as a “base” to “conclude quite quickly” the discussions, even if “several points” still have to be unblocked.

For its part, Tehran returned the ball to the Americans. “It is natural that the Islamic Republic of Iran expects the necessary decisions to be taken from the other side, especially in Washington,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday. “We hope that the American delegation will return to Vienna with clear instructions on how to fulfill its obligations on the lifting of sanctions,” said Said Khatibzadeh, pending “concrete commitments”.

On Friday, Washington made a move by announcing the reinstatement of key waivers protecting countries and foreign companies involved in non-military civilian nuclear projects from the threat of US sanctions.

With AFP