VIENNA — The
latest round of talks to salvage the
Iran nuclear deal has been put on pause,
the
EU coordinator said on Friday, calling for "political decisions"
to break the deadlock.
اضافة اعلان
Diplomats have been meeting in the Austrian
capital for several weeks straight in the search for a breakthrough to revive
the 2015 deal involving Iran, the US, Britain, China, France, Germany, and
Russia.
The EU has played the role of mediator and
the bloc's Enrique Mora tweeted, "Participants will go back to capital(s)
for consultations and instructions to come back next week.
"Political decisions are needed
now."
Chief negotiators for Britain, France and
Germany put out a statement saying, "Everyone knows we are reaching the
final stage, which requires political decisions.
"Negotiators are therefore returning to
capitals for consultation."
Russia's representative Mikhail Ulyanov made
similar comments on Twitter noting "negotiations have reached advanced
stage when political decisions are needed.
"The eighth round is expected to resume
next week."
A
US State Department spokesperson described
January as "the most intensive period of talks on a mutual return to full
implementation of the JCPOA to-date", referring to the nuclear deal, known
formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“Everyone knows we are reaching the final
stage, which requires political decisions. Negotiators, including (US) Special
Envoy (Robert) Malley, are therefore returning to capitals for consultations
this weekend.”
Talks to rescue the faltering accord began
in the Austrian capital in April and, after a five-month suspension, resumed in
November.
The deal had given Tehran sanctions
relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
But after the US pulled out and reimposed
sanctions in 2018 under Donald Trump, Iran began dramatically stepping up
nuclear activities.
Joe Biden's presidency helped relaunch the
negotiations but Washington has been taking part only indirectly, leaving the
Europeans to meet the Iranians.
Then on Monday, Iran for the first time said
it was open to direct negotiations with the US, which quickly declared itself
ready to hold talks "urgently".
"Our understanding is Iran has not yet
agreed to direct talks," State Department spokesman Ned Price said
Thursday.
"We remain prepared to meet
directly," Price told reporters.
France on Friday saw signs the talks could
now succeed.
"The negotiations remain difficult as
we need to clarify the question of guarantees (on lifting sanctions) and the
framework of control over the Iranian nuclear program," said a French
presidential official who asked not to be named.
"Nevertheless there are some
indications that the negotiations could succeed," added the official,
saying President Emmanuel Macron may hold telephone talks with his Iranian
counterpart Ebrahim Raisi in the coming days.
Deal, no deal
Iran also spoke early this week of progress
at the talks, adding Washington needed to take political decisions to move
forward.
Washington has remained cautious with
BrettMcGurk, the top White House official on the Middle East, warning Thursday the
negotiations could still "collapse very soon".
"We’re in the ballpark of a possible
deal but, again, I’m not going to put odds on this," McGurk said.
"There's a chance for a deal and
there's also a pretty good chance there's not going to be a deal — and I will
tell you we are prepared for either scenario."
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