BRUSSELS (National Times) – The EU s foreign policy chief said Tuesday he has submitted a draft text of a deal on Iran s nuclear programme, urging parties to accept it or “risk a dangerous nuclear crisis”.<\/p>\n
It comes after Iran warned on Monday it would not be rushed into a “quick” deal reviving its faltering 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, as negotiations in Vienna remain deadlocked.<\/p>\n
Writing in the Financial Times, the EU s top diplomat Josep Borrell said: “This text represents the best possible deal that I, as facilitator of the negotiations, see as feasible.<\/p>\n
“It is not a perfect agreement, but it addresses all essential elements and includes hard-won compromises by all sides”.<\/p>\n
Iran s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri wrote on Twitter on Tuesday: “The Coordinator has shared his ideas to conclude the negotiations. We, too, have our own ideas, both in substance and form, to conclude the negotiations which would be shared.”<\/p>\n
The 2015 deal gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme to guarantee that it could not develop a nuclear weapon — something it has always denied seeking.<\/p>\n
But the United States unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump, and Washington s reimposition of biting economic sanctions, prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.<\/p>\n
Talks in Vienna that started in April 2021 to restore the deal — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA — have stalled since March amid differences between Tehran and Washington.<\/p>\n
The two sides negotiated indirectly through the European Union coordinator.<\/p>\n
Borrell said the draft text “addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions lifting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore the JCPOA.”<\/p>\n
He accepted it may not address all US concerns about Iran, and acknowledged there are serious reservations in Tehran about implementing a deal “after the negative experience of recent years”.<\/p>\n
But he said “decisions need to be taken now”.<\/p>\n
Borrell warned: “If the deal is rejected, we risk a dangerous nuclear crisis, set against the prospect of increased isolation for Iran and its people. It is our joint responsibility to conclude the deal.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS (National Times) – The EU s foreign policy chief said Tuesday he has submitted a draft text of a deal on Iran s nuclear programme, urging parties to accept it or “risk a dangerous nuclear crisis”. It comes after Iran warned on Monday it would not be rushed into a “quick” deal reviving its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n