MADRID (Archyde.com) – European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday he hoped the United States would respond positively early this week to a proposal by the bloc to save the Iran nuclear deal.
Borrell also said Iran’s response to the EU’s recent proposal for a nuclear deal with the United States was “reasonable”.
This comes after 16 months of indirect and intermittent talks between the United States and Iran, which took place through the rotation of European officials on both sides. The content of the proposal has not been publicly disclosed.
He added during an event at a university in the city of Santander in northern Spain, “I presented a proposal as a coordinator of the negotiations saying, ‘This is the equation that we have reached, and I do not think that we can improve it from one side or the other’… There is a response from Iran, which I considered reasonable.”
“He was transferred to the United States, which has not yet responded officially… I hope the response will put an end to the negotiations,” he added.
An EU official previously said the proposal was the bloc’s “final offer” to revive the deal, which has been suspended since 2018 due to the US administration’s withdrawal from it under former President Donald Trump.
There is much at stake. Failure in the nuclear talks risks a new regional war with Israel threatening military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to prevent Tehran from developing its capabilities to the point of acquiring nuclear weapons.
Iran has warned of a “crushing” response to any Israeli attack, and has long denied any ambition to acquire nuclear weapons.
Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani accused the United States of “procrastinating” in the negotiations.
“The world would be a much safer place if we could revive this agreement,” Borrell said.