The European Union said on Tuesday it was considering Iran’s response to a “final” draft agreement on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers presented at talks in Vienna.
The US had already said on Monday that it had notified the EU’s head of foreign policy, Josep Borrell, of its response to a text he submitted on August 8.
A potential deal that could lead to the lifting of US sanctions on Iran’s 2.5 million barrels per day oil production has already triggered price drops in global markets, with US oil futures down nearly 3%. and fell below $90 a barrel. .
A spokesman for Borrell, which coordinated negotiations to bring Iran and the US back into the deal, said Iran’s response was received late Monday and that the EU was in “going forward” talks with the US and other parties.
“Everyone is studying reactions and now is not the time to speculate on timing,” Borrell spokesperson Nabila Masrari said at a press conference.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported Tuesday in response to Iran’s reaction that “if the US responds with pragmatism and flexibility, a deal will be reached.”
Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted a “source” as saying that Tehran “expects a response from the other side within the next two days.”
IRNA said on Friday Iran could accept a “final” document drawn up by the European Union to preserve a deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. .
The deal has been in a moribund state since the US pulled out in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, whose administration reimposed devastating sanctions.
An unidentified Iranian diplomat said, according to IRNA, that “the European Union’s proposal will be accepted on the condition that it provides assurances to Iran in various respects related to sanctions and protective measures,” and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He also mentioned concerns about
– 3 challenges –
IRNA said the remaining differences centered on three issues.
“The US has verbally expressed flexibility on two of them, but it needs to be built into the text,” the news agency said, without elaborating.
“The third issue has to do with ensuring that the deal will last, and that depends on US pragmatism to reassure Iran.”
Neither party has yet detailed the issues that stand in the way of the agreement.
Iran’s request to stop blacklisting Iran’s ideological army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as a “terrorist organization” on the US blacklist, will be taken out of the discussion and instead handled after the deal, a senior EU official said. said earlier this month.
Officials said progress had also been made on Tehran’s demands for assurances that Washington would not repeat its abandonment of the agreement, as it did under the Trump administration in 2018.
Tehran and Washington still need to agree on “issues related to the lifting of sanctions and some nuclear issues that did not exist in March when Iran proceeded with its plans,” EU officials said. rice field.
Iran also wants the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, to end its long-running investigation into traces of enriched uranium found at sites that have not been declared to have had nuclear activity.
Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and the United States indirectly resumed talks on the nuclear deal in early August after months of hiatus.
Negotiations for an EU adjustment to revive the agreement, known as the JCPOA, began in April 2021 before coming to a halt in March.
The EU said last Tuesday it expected Tehran and Washington to respond “very quickly” to a “final” document aimed at salvaging the deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdulahian said it was “important for us to confirm” that sanctions were in fact lifted after lengthy negotiations.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price rejected requests reportedly outside the scope of negotiations and said it was up to Iran to reach a final deal.
“We believe that anything that can be negotiated has been negotiated, and we are prepared to influence mutual reinstatement in compliance with the JCPOA,” Price said.
