VIENNA — Talks to
revive a deal with Iran on its contested nuclear program resumed on Tuesday in
Vienna after officials signaled an agreement was "in sight".
اضافة اعلان
The negotiations — attended by Britain,
China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and indirectly the US — were halted at the
end of last month for diplomats to return to the capitals to get further
instructions.
The resumption comes after parties in recent
weeks cited progress in seeking to revive the 2015 accord that was supposed to
prevent Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb, a goal it has always denied
pursuing.
A source close to the discussions told AFP
that the delegations had arrived in the Austrian capital.
AFP journalists saw Tehran's chief
negotiator
Ali Bagheri enter Palais Coburg, a luxury hotel where the talks are
taking place, for a meeting with EU official Enrique Mora, who chairs the
discussions.
Sticking points
"A deal that addresses all sides' core
concerns is in sight, but if it is not reached in the coming weeks, Iran's
ongoing nuclear advances will make it impossible for us to return to the
JCPOA," a US State Department spokesperson said on Monday, referring to
the 2015 framework agreement.
The US, under former president
Donald Trump,
unilaterally withdrew from the pact in 2018 and reimposed tough economic
sanctions on Iran, prompting the Islamic republic to begin pulling back from
its commitments under the deal and step up its nuclear activities.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman
Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that answers that "the US brings ... to Vienna
will determine when we can reach an agreement".
"We have made significant progress in
various areas of the Vienna negotiations", including on guarantees sought
by Iran that the US would not breach the deal once again, Khatibzadeh told
reporters.
Experts say the Iranians have deviated so
much from the restrictions laid out in the 2015 deal that they are only weeks
away from having enough fissile material for an atomic weapon — though actually
making one still requires further steps.
Washington has sought direct negotiations in
this home stretch, but said talks remain indirect at Iran's request. Parties
have been negotiating in Vienna since last year.
Eric Brewer of US non-proliferation watchdog
Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) said there remained "a combination of
issues that require resolution", including the scope of sanctions relief
and what to do with nuclear equipment Iran has installed.
"They are the final sticking points for
a reason — they are contentious and require concessions that neither side has
been willing to make so far," he said.
'Decisive moment'
Russian negotiator
Mikhail Ulyanov said in
an interview to the Russian daily Kommersant that parties were "five
minutes away from the finish line".
"A draft of the final document has been
crafted. There are several points there that need more work, but that document
is already on the table," he said.
German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz called it
"the decisive moment" in an interview with the Washington Post
published on Monday.
On Friday, Washington made a gesture by
announcing it was waiving sanctions on Iran's civil nuclear program, a
technical step necessary to return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action, or JCPOA.
The waiver allows other countries and
companies to participate in Iran's civil nuclear program without triggering
US sanctions, in the name of promoting safety and non-proliferation.
The move "should facilitate technical
discussions necessary to support talks on JCPOA return in Vienna,"
negotiators from Britain, France and Germany said in a joint statement
Saturday.
For Iran, though, the move fell short with
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of
Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in a
tweet Tuesday accusing the Biden administration of continuing Trump's
"maximum pressure" campaign against Iran.
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