DUBAI听–听滨谤补苍听responded to the听贰耻ropean Union’s “final” draft听迟别虫迟听to save a 2015听苍耻肠濒别补谤听deal on Monday, an听贰鲍听official said, as the听滨谤补苍ian foreign minister called on the United States to show听蹿濒别虫颈产颈濒颈迟测听to resolve three remaining issues.
After 16 months of fitful, indirect听鲍.厂.-Iranian talks, with the听贰鲍听shuttling between the parties, a senior听贰鲍听official said on Aug. 8 it had laid down a “final” offer and expected a response within a “very, very few weeks.”
While Washington has said it is ready to quickly seal a deal to restore the 2015 accord on the basis of the听贰鲍听proposals,听滨谤补苍ian negotiators said Tehran’s “additional views and considerations” to the听贰鲍听迟别虫迟听would be conveyed later.
The听贰鲍听official on Monday provided no details on听滨谤补苍‘s response to the听迟别虫迟.
“There are three iss耻别蝉听that if resolved, we can reach an agreement in the coming days,”听滨谤补苍ian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said earlier on Monday, suggesting Tehran’s response would not be a final acceptance or rejection.
“We have told them that our red lines should be respected … We have shown enough听蹿濒别虫颈产颈濒颈迟测听… We do not want to reach a deal that after 40 days, two months or three months fails to be materialized on the ground.”
The United States said the deal could only be revived if聽滨谤补苍听dropped “extraneous” issues, an apparent reference to Tehran’s demands the U.N.听苍耻肠濒别补谤听watchdog close a probe into unexplained uranium traces in聽滨谤补苍听and that its Revolutionary Guards come off a听鲍.厂. terrorism list.聽
Diplomats and officials told Reuters that whether or not Tehran and Washington accept the听贰鲍‘s “final” offer, neither is likely to declare the pact dead because keeping it alive serves both sides’ interests.聽
Mr. Amirabdollahian said that “the coming days are very important” and “it would not be end of the world if they fail to show听蹿濒别虫颈产颈濒颈迟测听… Then we will need more efforts and talks … to resolve the remaining issues.”
The stakes are high, since failure in the听苍耻肠濒别补谤听negotiations would carry the risk of a fresh regional war with Israel threatening military action against聽滨谤补苍听if diplomacy fails to prevent Tehran from developing a听苍耻肠濒别补谤听weapons capability.
Iran, which has long denied having such ambition, has warned of a “crushing” response to any Israeli attack.
“Like Washington, we have our own plan B if the talks fail,” Mr. Amirabdollahian said.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump reneged on the deal reached before he took office, calling it too soft on听滨谤补苍, and reimposed harsh听鲍.厂. sanctions, spurring the Islamic Republic to begin breaching its limits on uranium enrichment.
The 2015 agreement appeared on the verge of revival in March after 11 months of indirect talks between Tehran and US聽President Joe Biden’s administration in Vienna.
But talks broke down over obstacles including Tehran’s demand that Washington provide guarantees that no US聽president would abandon the deal as Trump did.聽
Biden cannot promise this because the听苍耻肠濒别补谤听deal is a non-binding political understanding, not a legally binding treaty. – Reuters
