EU foreign policy chief says new Iran nuke deal likely in ‘a matter of days’
Comments come as bloc’s talks coordinator heads to Tehran; Iranian top diplomat says removal of IRGC from US terror list remains a ‘key demand’
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Saturday that a new deal on Iran’s nuclear program would likely be sealed within days.
“We are very close but there are still some issues pending,” Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar. “I cannot tell you when or how, but it is a matter of days.”
International powers behind the accord have been saying for weeks that an agreement is close on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which began to unravel after the United States withdrew in 2018.
Western parties have been pushing for the talks to be concluded “urgently” because of the accelerated pace of Iran’s nuclear program.
The EU coordinator for the talks, Enrique Mora, was traveling to Tehran on Saturday and said he was hoping to close gaps in the negotiations.
“We are at 95 percent but the last five percent is critical,” according to Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, who said the last major obstacle was removed when Russia ended its opposition to a deal earlier this month.
“We want to prevent the nuclear program from advancing,” Borrell said. “I will be very disappointed if it does not happen.”
Concerned parties have signaled for weeks that the negotiations are close to an agreement, but that “political decisions” are required from Tehran and Washington.
Following the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the deal in 2018 and the re-imposition of crippling economic sanctions, Iran began rolling back on most of its commitments under the accord from 2019.
The negotiations have been paused since March 11, after Russia demanded guarantees that Western sanctions imposed on it following its invasion of Ukraine would not damage its trade with Iran.
Days later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a joint news conference with his visiting Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that Moscow had received the guarantees.
Consultations between Amir-Abdollahian and his counterparts had continued since delegations returned to their capitals, IRNA said.
‘Difficult issues’
The 2015 agreement gave Iran much-needed sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program that would guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon — something it has always denied wanting to do.
During the negotiations, Iran has repeatedly called for guarantees from the US that there will be no repeat of its 2018 pullout.
That is one of two key demands that experts believe Iran is holding out for, with the other being the removal of its Revolutionary Guards from a US terrorist blacklist.
The US said on Tuesday that it was now up to Iran to make hard decisions in order to restore the deal.
“The onus is on Tehran to make decisions that it might consider difficult,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“There are a number of difficult issues that we are still trying to work through.”
Iran’s top diplomat said on Saturday that the lifting of US sanctions on the IRGC is one of Tehran’s chief demands in talks on restoring the 2015 deal.
“Certainly the issue of [lifting sanctions against] the Guards is part of the talks,” Amir-Abdollahian told Iranian state television, according to Reuters.
He also said the IRGC has stated that an agreement should not be held up over the issue, while vowing not to cross the Islamic Republic’s “red lines.”
Amir-Abdollahian reiterated on Wednesday calls for the US to take steps to conclude the deal.
“Although Americans claim that they are interested in resolving issues and reaching an agreement, they must also show goodwill in practice,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
Tehran would not give up its “red lines, which are not sacrificing the interests and rights of the people,” he added.
