ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran has just days left to accept a deal on its nuclear programme in ongoing talks between major powers to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal in Vienna, France’s foreign minister warned on Wednesday as rhetoric on all sides rises amid growing Western fears regarding Tehran’s nuclear advances.
"It is not a question of weeks, it is a question of days," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Senate in Paris, as reported by AFP. "They [Iran] have a very clear choice, either they unleash a serious crisis in the next days... or they accept an agreement that respects the interests of all the parties," he said, following comments from Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani earlier in the day.
The JCPOA was agreed upon between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in 2015, offering Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, but when former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed stiff economic sanctions, Tehran embarked upon the process of rolling back on its nuclear commitments and this progress is stoking fears that this may be irreversible unless a new deal is agreed upon soon.
“We are not ready to enter into the process of direct talks with the US if we don't have a clear and promising outlook to reach a good agreement with sustainable guarantees in front of us,” the Iraniain foreign minister told the Financial Times, adding that a good deal was welcome if it upheld the rights of the Iranian people, in comments later shared on the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website.
In the interview published on Wednesday, displaying a lack of trust in the US, Amir-Abdollahian made it clear that Iran wanted the negotiations to lead to the “total lifting” of sanctions, but that the challenge was the willingness of the US to lift the economic sanctions imposed by Trump in 2018.
Financial Times interview With Iran's Foreign Minister@Amirabdolahian :“We also welcome a good deal in the shortest time however this deal must uphold the rights of the Iranian people”.https://t.co/jNZDGZi1hq pic.twitter.com/0jQm8zirmb
— Iran Foreign Ministry 🇮🇷 (@IRIMFA_EN) February 16, 2022
Amir-Abdollahian urged the US to provide a guarantee on the JCPOA, and for the US congress to issue a "political statement" reassuring Iran that Washington will remain committed to a possible agreement to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
"As a matter of principle, public opinion in Iran cannot accept as a guarantee the words of a head of state, let alone the United States, due to the withdrawal of Americans from the JCPOA and ill-promises of the Western parties," he said. "That Trump unilaterally and unjustly imposed sanctions on real and legal entities in Iran under some allegations as Iran’s missile programme, regional issues or human rights is not acceptable."
"In general, we are optimistic," Amir-Abdollahian concluded in the full text of the interview. "The other sides try to exert pressure on us through shocks and diplomacy of playing with time and tell us we are running out of time and should therefore reach an agreement soon; however, we believe that talks should continue until we reach a good point to ensure we can reach a good agreement... It is the US that is responsible for the sanctions environment against the Islamic Republic of Iran. And the US should show in practice whether or not it is really seeking a good and mutually-agreed deal in which the interests and JCPOA benefits of the Islamic Republic of Iran are protected."
Questioned on the progress of the Vienna talks in a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the eighth round of negotiations were still ongoing, and that the administration was keen to have the opportunity for direct engagement with the Iranians.
"Our focus remains on a deal that addresses the core concerns of all sides," she said, adding that if this is not reached in the coming weeks, "Iran's ongoing nuclear advances will make it impossible for us to return to the JCPOA."
Iran’s top security official Ali Shamkhani said in a Twitter post on Wednesday afternoon that the US and Europe had failed the test of their compliance with the JCPOA. In blunt language, he described the JCPOA as “an empty shell,” warning that “there will be no extra-JCPOA talks with the committed US and inactive Europe.”
The US and Europe failed the test of their compliance with JCPOA. Regarding the economic field and the lifting of sanctions, JCPOA has now become an empty shell for #Iran. There will be no extra-JCPOA talks with the committed US and inactive Europe. #ViennaTalks
— علی شمخانی (@alishamkhani_ir) February 16, 2022
Later that evening, Iran's top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said on Twitter that, "after weeks of intensive talks, we are closer than ever to an agreement; nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, though."
On Tuesday, Shamkhani said that "verification and providing a guarantee is an integral part of a good deal," in apparent reference to any US commitments, in a statement on Twitter. “Proven American malpractice is the most important threat to any agreement,” he added.
The remarks by Iran’s foreign minister, compounded by Shamkhani’s observations, are not exactly positive signs heading into what US officials say are the final two weeks of talks, Senior Director at the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative Eric Brewer commented on Wednesday.
And yet, the diplomatic route remains pursued. On Tuesday, Amir-Abdollahian shared details of a phone call with his UK counterpart, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in which he said both sides agreed on the importance of maintaining good relations, and claimed were on the “right track” for UK debt to be repaid.
In phone call, FS @trussliz & I reviewed bilat ties & agreed on importance of maintaining good relations. On right track for UK debt to be repaid.
— H.Amirabdollahian امیرعبداللهیان (@Amirabdolahian) February 15, 2022
Reiterated dire humanitarian situation in Yemen & Af.
Good deal within reach in Vienna, if western parties adopt realistic approach. pic.twitter.com/JHrXd90qhx
Britain owes Iran £400 million ($530 million) for around 1,500 tanks that were never delivered to Iran more than 40 years ago - and a grievance many interpret as leverage for the country’s ongoing incarceration of British citizen, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, detained in Iran since 2016.
In his comments on the conversation, Amir-Abdollahian said that a good deal was “within reach in Vienna, if western parties adopt [a] realistic approach.”
On Monday, after months of on-off negotiations, the Iranian foreign minister also said that an agreement to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers was "at hand", but insisted that sanctions be "truly lifted" through ongoing talks in Vienna. Following a call with Amir-Abdollahian later that day, European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that he “strongly” believed “an agreement is in sight."
Updated at 11:03 pm
