Indirect talks between Iran and the US will resume after the EU’s foreign policy chief visits Tehran to resolve the impasse.
Tehran, Iran – Iran and the European Union agreed during the visit of the bloc’s foreign policy chief to resume nuclear talks with the United States that have been stalled since March.
Iranian Foreign Ministers Hossein Amirabdollahian and Josep Borrell of the EU announced in a press conference after “long but positive” talks on Saturday that they had agreed that indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to restore Their 2015 nuclear deal will restart in the next few days.
Amirabdollahian told reporters that, for Iran, the most important thing is that it can fully enjoy the economic benefits that Iran promised under the original deal.
“Any problem possible [negatively] The impact on Iran’s economic interests will not be agreed upon for Iran and the government of President Ebrahim Raisi, he said.
“In particular, we hope that the US side this time will engage pragmatically and fairly in the committed and responsible acts in order to reach the final point of an agreement.”
Borrell also welcomed the resumption of talks, saying a restored nuclear deal would benefit the region and the world.
He also said he would like to return to Iran in the future, perhaps when US sanctions are lifted, to further discuss the “high potential” of expanding trade and energy ties between Iran. and EU.
The restarted talks will aim to “resolve the final outstanding issues,” he said in a series of tweets after the press conference, without elaborating.
Borrell and his deputy, Enrique Mora, arrived in Tehran late on Friday and met with Amirabdollahian and chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani on Saturday. Borrell is also scheduled to have a meeting with Iran’s security chief Ali Shamkhani later on Saturday.
Iran and the US – unilaterally renounce the agreement in 2018 under President Donald Trump and imposed harsh sanctions – met an impasse in finding a way to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – as the nuclear deal was officially known. – since March.
As the question of whether the title of “foreign terrorist organization” in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will be lifted remains a key point, both sides have publicly continued to call on the other side to make concessions.
Amirabdollahian last week announced that Iran had made a new proposal to the US to move forward with the negotiations. Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh did not give details, but said the new offer had been forwarded to the EU and two foreign ministers, who he did not name.
Borrell and Mora’s visit comes days after they had a meeting with Robert Malley, the US special envoy for Iran, in which Malley “reiterates the American company’s commitment to back the deal”, according to one Mora’s tweet.
France, one of the signatories of the JCPOA, on Friday called on Iran to take advantage of the EU leaders’ visit and conclude the talks now “while the possibility remains”.
The US and its European allies that signed the deal – France, Germany and the UK – earlier this month introduced a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) panel to criticize Iran for its advances. The kernel has been adopted.
Soon after, Iran take down 27 surveillance cameras of the IAEA is subject to the JCPOA, and has begun installing advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its Natanz and Fordow sites, saying they will not bow to pressure.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has warned that the move poses a threat to the continuity of knowledge and could deal a “fatal blow” JCPOA recovery attempt if not remedied.
Grossi’s request to make a trip to Tehran to discuss the surveillance issue has not been granted to date.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to 60% purity, but insists it will never seek a nuclear weapon.
