Negotiations on Iranian civilian nuclear power, stalled since March, were “reopened“, welcomed Friday, May 13 the head of diplomacy of the European Union Josep Borrell.
Read alsoMoscow pressures its Iranian ally in nuclear talks
“Negotiations were at a standstill and they were reopenedsaid Josep Borrell in Wangels, northern Germany, where he is attending a meeting of G7 foreign ministers. He was referring to the outcome of talks the day before between the European Union’s coordinator for Iran nuclear negotiations, Enrique Mora, and Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri to relaunch the 2015 deal.
Meeting between the Emir of Qatar and the Iranian President
At the same time, the Emir of Qatar met with the Supreme Guide of Iran Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Ebrahim Raïsi on the same subject. “I evaluate this meeting in Iran very positively. Negotiations had been stalled for two months over these disagreements over what to do with the Revolutionary Guards“explained Josep Borrell.
Among the main sticking points was Tehran’s demand that the United States remove the Revolutionary Guards from a list of terrorist organizations. “These kinds of things cannot be solved overnight. Let’s say things were blocked and they were unblocked“, according to him. Enrique Mora conveyed to Iranian negotiators the EU’s message stressing that “it can’t go on like this“, reported Josep Borrell.
“Perspective” of a “final agreement”
“The response was quite positive“said Josep Borrell. “There is a prospect of reaching a final agreement“, he rejoiced. Josep Borrell would not comment on the fact that the EU negotiator was briefly detained by German customs at Frankfurt airport, where he was on a connection to Brussels. “Detained by German police at Frankfurt airport on my way back to Brussels from Tehran. Not a single explanation“, complained on Twitter Enrique Mora Friday morning.
Shortly after, he said he was allowed to leave but without having received an explanation, “what appears to be a violation of the Vienna Convention“, did he declare. Contacted by AFP, the Frankfurt police did not comment on this subject. Negotiations launched a year ago in Vienna between Tehran and the major powers for a relaunch of the 2015 agreement, supposed to frame Iran’s nuclear program, have been stalled since March.
Read alsoIran nuclear deal ‘held hostage’ by conflict in Ukraine
The pact has been moribund since the unilateral withdrawal in 2018 of the United States which, under Donald Trump, then president, reimposed stifling sanctions on Tehran, leading in response to its gradual withdrawal from the agreement. Donald Trump’s departure from the White House helped revive attempts to revive the deal, with Enrique Mora playing a leading role in talks in Vienna.