This Monday in Vienna, negotiations were concluded to reactivate the 2015 international agreement, which seeks to stop Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons. Washington had decided to withdraw from the pact after accusing Tehran of breaching it, however, after months of arduous negotiations, a new draft was announced that will now be analyzed by all parties for final signature.
A relief for global nuclear stability. With a final draft, talks to revive Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers ended Monday in Vienna. This was reported by the main diplomat of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, who acts as coordinator of the negotiations.
The high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs delivered a text on the proposal that he had presented two weeks ago in order to reactivate the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). “Our great expectation is that the text be accepted, because it is good for all parties,” he assured.
Now, the chief negotiators of Iran and the United States, Ali Bagherí Kaní and Robert Malley, will have to travel to their countries to show the results and see if they will finally have the approval of their governments, respectively.
Iranian officials said they do not regard the EU proposal as final, so they will convey their “additional views and considerations” after reviewing the draft. The last word to retake the pact will have the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei.
For its part, the United States reacted positively to Borell’s recent announcement: “For our part, the position is clear: we are ready to quickly conclude an agreement based on the EU proposals,” the State Department said.
They also said that the restoration of the pact depends on the Middle Eastern country. “They (Iran) repeatedly say that they are prepared to return to mutual implementation … Let’s see if their actions match their words,” the entity added from Washington.
After 16 months of hectic and intermittent negotiations to restore the agreement, Borrell announced the decision via Twitter, assuring that the final draft with the technical issues is on the table and that the signing depends on the political will of the parties.
What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text.
However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals.
If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 8, 2022
With this new draft, it is intended to restore the most important non-proliferation pact of the last quarter century in the Iranian-American relationship. The 2015 nuclear deal gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for strict restrictions on its atomic program, the Spanish diplomat said.
There are still great challenges that could erase the optimism to resume the agreement
Although details about the specific proposal were not revealed, the text responds to technical aspects, such as those related to the process of lifting the sanctions imposed on Iran due to accusations of breaching the 2015 agreement.
Tehran assures that its nuclear program is designed for the generation of energy and other peaceful purposes and not for the manufacture of weapons, as has been accused on several occasions by the United States.
This weekend, European officials called on Iran to drop its “unrealistic demands” outside the original deal and ask it to submit to an investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over undeclared nuclear material found. in its territory.
It is known that one of the fundamental points within the proposal submitted by the EU is the visit by the IAEA to investigate the uranium manufactured in Iran. The chemical compound has a purity of 60%, well above the 3.67% allowed in the 2015 agreement; but below 90%, which is considered suitable for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
What is the 2015 pact about?
Iran and six great powers signed an agreement in 2015, which sought to restrict the nuclear programs of each State and prevent the growth of the purchasing power of nuclear weapons globally.
Under Republican Donald Trump, the United States abandoned the original nuclear deal in 2018 after it emerged that Iran had developed its nuclear program to the point of being close to having atomic fuel usable in a nuclear weapon.
Immediately the North American country, the EU and the UN imposed strong economic sanctions on Tehran in order to hinder its nuclear development in the short term.
Since the arrival at the White House of Joe Biden in 2021, reviving the agreement has been a fundamental point for his Administration. In April last year, it was agreed to resume talks in Vienna, as Iran refused to deal directly with the United States.
The text presented by the EU intends for Washington to return to the JCPOA and seeks to force Iran to comply with its commitments.
However, despite the fact that this draft has been applauded, Iran was cautious, so there is some skepticism about the chances of having a breakthrough in the final signing of the agreement.
Also of concern is the mid-term elections looming in the United States on November 8; the possible victory of the Republicans in the Legislative could hinder the signing, since this party opposes the agreement.
Now the proposal must be studied and approved by the governments that still belong to the JCPOA: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, the United States and, of course, Iran.
There is no established time limit for the approval and start of the application process of the agreement, but according to the spokespersons of the parties, it is expected to be in a few weeks.
“The ball is in the court of the different capitals,” said an EU representative.
With Reuters and AP
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