Tough nuclear talks in Vienna: EU negotiators reprimand Iran’s actions

Tough nuclear talks in Vienna
EU negotiators criticize Iran’s actions

Over six rounds, Iran and the states of the nuclear agreement negotiate difficult compromises with the country. But according to the EU, there is little of this in a draft from Tehran.

EU diplomats have expressed their disappointment in the nuclear talks with Iran, which will continue next week in Vienna. “After careful and thorough examination, we are disappointed and concerned about the changes proposed by Iran to the text negotiated over the last six rounds of the Vienna talks,” said a senior EU diplomat. “Iran is breaking with almost all of the difficult compromises reached in months of tough negotiations and is demanding substantial changes to the text.”

On Monday, the nuclear talks were resumed after a five-month hiatus. The United States unilaterally terminated the agreement in 2018 under the then President Donald Trump and imposed economic sanctions on Iran. Great Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia kept the agreement.

In 2019, Iran began violating requirements and ramping up uranium enrichment. While the western government accuses Iran of secretly wanting to build an atomic bomb, the government in Tehran rejects this. Trump’s successor Joe Biden has agreed to return to the Barack Obama deal. However, only indirect talks are currently taking place between the USA and Iran.

Negotiations should resume in the middle of next week, said China’s chief negotiator Wang Qun. EU diplomats demanded that the delegations in the capitals should now discuss the current situation and obtain instructions on how to proceed. “This is important in order to assess whether these gaps in the negotiations can be closed or not,” it said, referring to the Iranian position. They want to continue on a diplomatic path. “The time window for such a path is getting smaller,” it warned. “We are waiting for the other parties to respond to our proposed drafts,” said Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani.

.
source site-34