Today, the head of the European Union diplomat urged the parties involved in the negotiations to resume the nuclear agreement with Iran to take decisions “now”, warning that the space to reach important new commitments “has been exhausted.”
To save the Iran nuclear deal, I put on the table the best deal possible under these circumstances. It’s time to make the decision,” confirmed Josep Borrell, who also plays the role of facilitator in these meetings, through a post on his blog.
The Spanish politician said that after 15 months of “intense and constructive” negotiations and “numerous interactions” with the participants in the agreement and with the United States of America (USA), “there has run out of space for additional important commitments around the deal.”
“It is necessary to make decisions now, to seize the unique opportunity to succeed and implement the great potential of a fully implemented nuclear agreement,” he stressed.
Iran and six world powers — the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China — signed an agreement over Iran’s controversial nuclear program in 2015, agreeing to drastically reduce uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
In 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and since then Iran has violated the agreement and increased its ‘stockpile’ of enriched uranium.
International talks held in Vienna on reviving the agreement and returning the United States to the protocol, following the political transition with Joe Biden’s election, have been stalled since April.
For the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, restoring the Iran nuclear deal “will enhance regional and global security and demonstrate that international agreements are possible in turbulent times.”
Josef Borrell stressed that the agreement included “strict” restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities and the broadest monitoring and inspection regime applied by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear agency.
Moreover, the director general of this body, Rafael Grossi, admitted his concern about Iran’s recent claims that it would soon be “technically” in a position to make nuclear weapons.
An advisor to Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei revealed that Tehran can “produce 90% of enriched uranium without problems, and the purity required to make atomic bombs.”
Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency (AEAI) confirmed on Monday that it will not operate 27 IAEA surveillance cameras until the 2015 nuclear deal is restored.
The agreement has reached a dead end, and both Iran and the United States maintain that there are still major issues to be resolved that require political will and resolution.
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