Stressing that the time is running out, senior British, French, and German diplomats warned on Monday that without progress n the Vienna nuclear negotiations, the 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran will very soon turn into empty words on paper- a mere empty shell.
The diplomats from the so-called E3 complained that they still haven’t been able to get down to real negotiations, shuttling between US and Iranian officials, pointing that, in light of Iran’s fast-forwarding of its nuclear program, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will soon turn into mere words on paper.
Their warning offers a pessimistic assessment of efforts to revive the deal the Republican then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States from in 2018, reimposing US sanctions, which prompted Iran to begin violating its nuclear restrictions in 2019.
JCPOA – also signed by Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia – was until then limiting Iran’s nuclear program in return for relief from US, EU, and UN economic sanctions.
Trumps’ successor, Joe Biden, has pledged to mutual return to compliance with the deal via indirect talks but that has proved difficult considering the fact that Tehran refuses to meet directly with US officials, forcing officials from other parties to the deal shuttle between them.
In the six rounds of negotiations between April and June, diplomats claimed they’ve made significant progress but the election of hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi as Iran’s president has pushed the talks into five-month hiatus.
A senior US official has said that during the seventh round, which began on November 29, Iran abandoned all the compromises it had made thus far, pocketed compromises made by other parties, and even demanded more.
The E3 diplomats are now forced to deal with new, frustrating Iranian positions and demands that are either inconsistent with the JCPOA or go beyond it.
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