Continuing the negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program does not make sense if there is no prospect of progress soon, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
The French minister spoke at a press conference following a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers, which ended in Brest in western France.
“There is nothing more to negotiate if nothing happens. Neither to prevent Iran from accessing nuclear weapons, nor to Iran to benefit from the lifting of sanctions. Suppose there is no acceleration of progress in the negotiations. In that case, there will be no lifting of the sanctions,” Le Drian said.
The head of French diplomacy expressed the opinion that the current negotiations in Vienna are moving “too slowly to achieve a result.”
According to him, the problem is the rather rapid progress of Iranian scientists in developments in the nuclear field and the slowness of the Iranian authorities in accepting the proposals put forward in the negotiations.
“The conclusion of an agreement in the coming weeks or even months is no longer being discussed. The choice is between the fastest possible restoration of the JCPOA or restarting the crisis with the proliferation [of nuclear weapons] from Iran,” the minister explained.
The eighth round of negotiations resumed in Viena after the New Year’s break, the purpose of which is to restore the JCPOA in its original form. The talks also aim to return the US to this multilateral agreement, Reuters reported.
Following the meeting of the Joint Commission of Iran and the five international mediators (Russia, Great Britain, Germany, China, and France), the parties agreed to accelerate the process on the draft agreement and complete it by early February.
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