EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a tweet that the final text on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers was “basically ready and on the table”, but a pause was needed in the talks due to “external factors”.
“As facilitator, I and my team will continue to engage with all JCPOA participants and the United States, to overcome the current situation and finalize the agreement,” Borrell wrote.
The European Union is coordinating the negotiations to revive the Iranian nuclear agreement, and announced the need to stop the ongoing negotiations in Vienna, after they had reached critical stages, according to Agence France-Presse.
Iran was quick to confirm its desire to achieve an understanding on the nuclear agreement, noting that this would not be affected by any “external factor.”
“No external factor will affect our common desire to move forward for a collective agreement,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a tweet, adding that the suspension of talks “may constitute an impetus to resolve any remaining issue and achieve a final return” to the 2015 agreement. Khatibzadeh stressed that “the successful completion of the talks will remain the main focus of all.”
Borrell’s comments came after Iran announced that the United States had put forward “new demands” during negotiations on the nuclear deal, and days after Russia demanded US guarantees related to Western sanctions imposed on it as a result of its attack on Ukraine.
And on Thursday evening, a call took place between Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian and European official Josep Borrell. The Iranian Foreign Ministry quoted Abdollahian as saying, “There is no logical justification for some of the new requests submitted by the United States,” without specifying the details of these demands.
Abdullahian added that Washington’s demands “contradict the American position calling for the conclusion of a quick nuclear agreement,” adding that Washington “cannot send us a new and different message on a daily basis through the coordinator.”
For his part, Borrell urged “the United States and Iran to show greater flexibility in exchanging messages to complete the negotiations quickly,” according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry statement.
The call came hours after the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, accused Washington of “complicating” negotiations and making unacceptable proposals.
The United States is talking about a Russian “obstruction” that has emerged recently, after negotiations on the nuclear agreement reached a “final” stage. Russia linked the Iranian nuclear deal to the sanctions file on Ukraine, and said on Saturday that it wanted written guarantees from the United States that sanctions would not harm its cooperation with Iran in various fields, which Washington rejected.
On Thursday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed that the Vienna negotiations had entered into the latest “unresolved and most difficult” issues, adding that the US administration “urges all parties involved in them to make serious efforts” to accomplish what is required.
Regarding Moscow’s recent demands in the nuclear negotiations, Price said that the US administration has “no intention” to trade sanctions for facilities offered by Russia in the negotiations.