EU officials mediating talks between the US and Iran aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear accord have put forward the “final text” of an agreement they hope will convince Tehran to sign. The latest round of negotiations, which began in Vienna last week, bore the hallmarks of a last-ditch attempt to secure an agreement between the Islamic republic and the Biden administration after 15 months of EU-mediated indirect talks. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said on Monday: “What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text.” “However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals,” Borrell wrote on Twitter.
“If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal.” Diplomats and analysts have been saying for weeks that with many of the details of an agreement reached, it is up to Tehran and Washington to make the political decisions about whether they want to sign. Both capitals blame each other for the deadlock, and entered the talks playing down any expectations of a breakthrough. The Iranian delegation was to return to Tehran for consultations, the country’s state media said.
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a telephone conversation with Borrell on Monday evening that “any final agreement should meet the rights and interests of the Iranian nation and guarantee sustainable and effective removal of sanctions”.
Read the article by Andrew England, Henry Foy and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in the Financial Review.