The negotiator of the European Union responsible for coordinating the Iranian nuclear talks in Vienna, Enrique Mora, is expected Tuesday, May 10 in Tehran for a final step, in order to unblock the negotiations stopped since March 11.
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Iran has been engaged for a year in direct negotiations with France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia and China, and indirectly with the United States, to revive an agreement reached in 2015 on its nuclear program , but from which Washington unilaterally withdrew in 2018.
The Revolutionary Guards
The talks aim to bring the United States back to this agreement, in particular by lifting sanctions against Iran, and guaranteeing full compliance by Tehran with its commitments. After talks broke down in the Austrian capital in March, Iran called for a meeting on April 25as soon as possibleto restore the nuclear deal. “The agenda of the talks (of Enrique Mora) in Tehran is almost fixedsaid ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh during his weekly press conference. “He will meet Ali Bagheri, chief negotiator of the Islamic Republic of Iran“, he added.
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The official date of Enrique Mora’s arrival is rarely given in advance, but according to the Iranian press, he should be in Tehran on Tuesday. Enrique Mora’s last visit to Tehran dates back to March 27, and two days later he traveled to the United States. “Enrique Mora’s trip moves the talks in the right direction“, assured Saïd Khatibzadeh, but that “doesn’t mean it comes up with a new message after a break“, he however underlined, messages being “constantly exchanged between Iran and the United States via the European Union“. Among the main obstacles is Tehran’s demand to remove the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, from the American blacklist of “foreign terrorist organizations“.
“Last cartridge”
The media “must not reduce the (outstanding) issues between Iran and the United States to a single issue, such as the Guardians“, launched Said Khatibzadeh. “The (red) lines set by the high authorities of the Islamic Republic have been respected, and that is why we are where we are today“, he added, without further details. “If the United States decides today to respect the rights of the Iranian people, we can go to Vienna after Enrique Mora’s visit and sign the agreement“, said the spokesperson again.
“Enrique Mora has requested further meetings (with Iranian officials) inside and outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but we have to see what will happenSaid Khatibzadeh said. On Saturday, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, told the Financial Times that he was looking for a “middle laneto end the standoff that threatens to sabotage more than a year of European diplomatic efforts to seal a deal that would see the United States rejoin the 2015 deal and lift sanctions on Iran.
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In return, the Islamic Republic would drastically reduce its nuclear activity. Josep Borrell told the British daily that he was the one who wanted the EU negotiator to go to Tehran to discuss the issue, but that Iran “was very reluctant“. He had described this mission of Mr. Mora as the “last cartridge“. “At some point, I will say, as coordinator (of the Vienna talks), I put this proposal on the table, formally (…) the only possible point of balance would be this“, had explained Josep Borrell to the FT. “We cannot continue like this indefinitely, because in the meantime Iran continues to develop its nuclear program“, he had underlined.