Iran and world powers are very close to signing an agreement on reviving their 2015 nuclear deal, which would curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting tough US sanctions on its economy, a top EU diplomat said on Saturday.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell noted that negotiations are ongoing to revive the agreement that would see Iran give up its ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.
Analysts say that if efforts to restore the pact fail, it could carry the risk of a regional war, and lead to harsher Western sanctions on Iran but also to continued upward pressure on already high world oil prices increased by the Ukraine conflict.
If a deal is signed, it would mean returning of the Iranian crude oil to global energy markets in the near future, which might help to offset market turmoil and price spikes
Russia, whose economy suffers a wide-ranging sanction as a result of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, has issued some last-minute demands over the nuclear deal, a move that some experts saw as an effort to prevent markets’ stabilization through the restoration of Iranian oil exports.
Moscow, which, according to the plan will be responsible for shipping the excess enriched uranium out of Iran to Russia and supporting Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant’s conversion of into a research facility, among other things, would play an important role in implementing a renewed Iran agreement.
However, faced with the threats of the international community economically severing the ties with the country, Moscow now wants written assurances that it will still be able to benefit from a revived Iran accord.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that the US imposed sanction mustn’t in any way damage Russia’s right to free and full trade, economic and investment cooperation, and military-technical cooperation with Iran.
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