The European Union presented a “final text” for the negotiations that seek to revive the international agreement on the Iranian nuclear program of 2015, without Tehran having given its endorsement to this proposal.
“We have worked for four days and the text is on the table,” the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters on Monday.
“The negotiation has ended, this is the final text (…) and it will not be renegotiated,” he explained.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, stated that what can be negotiated has already been negotiated.
“This is a final text,” he said on Twitter.
“However, behind each technical issue and each paragraph there is a political decision that must be taken in the capitals. If the answers are positive, then we can sign the agreement,” he said.
Following a months-long stalemate in negotiations, diplomats from Iran, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany returned to Vienna last Thursday for a round of talks aimed at trying to salvage the deal.
This dialogue seeks to ensure that Tehran’s nuclear program has civilian purposes, since, despite its denials, Iran has been accused of seeking to acquire an atomic weapon.
The 2015 international agreement was left in limbo after the decision of the United States to withdraw unilaterally in 2018 during the presidency of Donald Trump, reestablishing sanctions against Iran, which in turn began to progressively dissociate itself from its commitments.
The objective of this dialogue, in which the United States participates indirectly, is to channel the process.
“Now, the ball is in the field of the capitals and we are going to see what is going to happen,” added the European official.
The diplomat highlighted the quality of the text and affirmed that he hopes it will be accepted and that there will be an agreement in “a few weeks.”
The response from Tehran
The Iranian government said it is examining the text, which is 25 pages long.
“As soon as we receive these ideas, we convey our initial response and considerations to them, but naturally these issues require further review and additional considerations,” state news agency IRNA reported, citing an unnamed diplomat.
To pave an agreement there is a greater stumbling block: Iran asks the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN agency in charge of nuclear affairs, to bury an investigation into undeclared nuclear sites, where traces of enriched uranium were found .
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdolahian urged the UN agency to “settle the issue” through technical means and to move away from political issues that are not relevant and are not constructive either.
Kelsey Davenport, an expert with the Arms Control Association, warned against abandoning the investigation with the aim of reaching a general agreement on a nuclear pact.
“That would be a mistake,” he wrote on Twitter. “If the United States and other states party to the agreement do not support this UN agency,” it would undermine its mission and broader non-proliferation goals.
With information from AFP and Reuters.
