Mora added that Iran “demands major changes”, some of which contradict the 2015 agreement, and it is unclear how the new gaps can be filled in a realistic time frame based on Iranian drafts, noting that talks will resume “next week to see if these differences can be overcome.” or not”.
This comes at the end of the fifth day of indirect talks between Tehran and the United States on the 2015 nuclear agreement, which began this week and concluded on Friday with an official meeting that includes the rest of the parties to the agreement (France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China).
Two Iranian drafts
And on Thursday, Iran submitted to the European powers participating in the negotiations of the nuclear agreement, two drafts on lifting sanctions and nuclear commitments.
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, said in a press statement from Vienna: “We presented them with two draft proposals.. Of course, they need to study examining the texts we presented to them.. If they are ready to complete the talks, we are in Vienna to complete them.”
After a European-American objection to their content, he indicated that the European parties could propose special drafts for discussion after they expressed their dissatisfaction with our demands in the nuclear talks.
Talks resumed after a 5-month hiatus due to the election of Ebrahim Raisi, the new president of Iran.
The current negotiations seek to save the nuclear agreement, by returning the United States to the agreement, which it withdrew from in 2018 during the era of former President Donald Trump, and forcing Iran to abide by the terms of the agreement, many of which it repudiated.
Tehran wants to lift the sanctions imposed on it completely and at once, which the United States rejects and wants guarantees of compliance with the Iranian nuclear program.
European-American pessimism
Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the signals coming from the nuclear talks in Vienna were “not optimistic”, referring to the continuing obstacles to the agreement that the major powers concluded with Iran in 2015, and then Washington withdrew from it.
Blinken criticized Iran, saying: “We will not accept that Iran continues its nuclear program while talks are taking place in Vienna.”
He added, “We made great progress in the rounds that preceded the Iranian elections, but what we have witnessed in the past two days is Iran’s lack of seriousness in returning to the agreement.”
He explained that the diplomatic path to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon becomes “shorter with the passage of time,” noting that the US administration “will consult with European countries, the Gulf states, Israel, Russia and China on future steps.”
While French President Emmanuel Macron said that the current round of nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna did not appear to be successful, adding: “I think it is likely that this round of negotiations will not succeed given the positions.”
In turn, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Iran is applying “nuclear blackmail” as one of the tactics for conducting negotiations, pointing out that the appropriate response to this should be to stop the negotiations immediately, and to take strict steps by the great powers.
And on Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed that Iran is making progress on the path to uranium enrichment, days after talks to save the 2015 nuclear deal.
Benefiting from disagreement
Iranian analyst, Omid Shoukry, said that “Iran seeks the greatest gains by lifting the sanctions completely and establishing a real mechanism to stop the damage caused by the sanctions and to gain some time to avoid the Iranian nuclear file from going to the UN Security Council.”
Shoukry, senior adviser on foreign policy and energy security at the Center for “Gulf States Analytics” (based in Washington), added that in return, the United States rejects Iran’s insistence on lifting all sanctions, especially as Iran’s efforts to increase uranium enrichment are accelerating.
He explained, in statements to “Sky News Arabia”, that Iran is wasting the time that the Iranian economy needs to lift sanctions. Before he added, “But some politicians are benefiting from circumventing sanctions and obstructing an agreement between Iran and the United States.. Selling oil on the black market and circumventing sanctions by some groups has great economic benefits.”
He stressed that “without direct contact between the representatives of Iran and the United States, it cannot be expected that the demands of the two sides will be fully mentioned in the talks and that the conditions agreed upon by Tehran and Washington will be fulfilled… if the two parties do not have direct contact. The deal will not be reached on Short-term”.
He continued: “If Tehran really wanted a new agreement, it would not have raised the bar for its demands and would not have been accelerating the continuation of uranium enrichment, the continuation of Iran’s current policy regarding its nuclear and missile programs, as well as drones, may lead to a closer European-Chinese-Russian and American policy. towards Tehran.
What awaits Iran?
He pointed out that “if the agreement is not reached in the short term, Iran’s economic and political situation will deteriorate domestically and internationally.”
On the expected options if the negotiations fail, Shoukry said: “If the talks do not succeed and Iran continues its nuclear program, it is expected that its nuclear facilities will be targeted by Israel, and Washington can impose new sanctions on Iran and submit Iran’s nuclear file to the UN Security Council. Which is not in Iran’s interest at all because currently the policies of European countries – and China – Russia and the United States are closer to each other, especially in this file.”
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