EU Foreign Policy Chief Borrell in Tehran:

Nobody Can Talk About Stability Without Iran

Date: 25 June 2022 - 21:46

News ID: ۱۰۴۱۰۰

TEHRAN -- Talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal by bringing the U.S. back to line will resume within days after being stalled for months, Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said here on Saturday.
The negotiations began in April last year but hit a snag in March amid differences between Tehran and Washington, notably over the U.S. refusal to undo its past wrongs.
My visit has one main objective: it was to break the current dynamic of escalation and to break the stalemate of the negotiations of the JCPOA. It was of paramount importance to give a new momentum to bring the JCPOA on track,” Borrell told a news conference in the Iranian capital, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The landmark deal has been hanging by a thread since 2018, when then U.S. president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and began imposing harsh economic sanctions on Iran.
The administration of incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to return to the agreement, but it has shown an unusual urge to keep the key elements of the draconian sanctions in place.
“We agreed today that this visit will be followed by the resumption of negotiations also between Iran and the U.S. facilitated by my team to try to solve the last outstanding issues,” said Borrell.
The EU foreign policy chief was speaking after a two-hour meeting with Amir-Abdollahian, on the second day of a previously unannounced visit to Tehran.
He said the sides will resume the talks in Vienna in the coming days.
“The coming days means the coming days. I mean quickly, immediately. And so, we are going to break this stalemate and stop this escalation process in which we were.”
Borrell touched on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, stating “the conclusion of our landmark agreement is more important than ever”.

“The world needs security and stability. And the world will be a much secure place if we have a deal that can ensure for Iran full benefits, full economic benefits of the agreement, and at the same time to address the concerns of the international community about non-proliferation, global security and regional stability.”

Borrell said the EU was “offering to the countries in the region a new and much deeper relationship, based on a broad agenda that includes the global issues - green transition, digital transition, but also trade and regional security”.

“And I cannot conceive such, as a regional approach, without you, without Iran,” he said.

“Nobody can talk about the stability in the Persian Gulf region without taking into account Iran - the biggest country in the region and a great potential provider of energy.”

Borrell said Saturday had been “a positive meeting” and that “we want to stress our bilateral relations”, but “it will deserve another visit to Tehran”.

“I will be more than happy to come back to Tehran to go deeper in the bilateral relations between the European Union and Iran. Because I am convinced that we have an enormous potential in many fields, starting from trade - including oil and gas - to many other issues. We are a big market, you are a big market, and our economies are strongly complementary with each other.”

Amir-Abdollahian confirmed the resumption of the negotiations.

“We will try to solve the problems and differences through the talks that will resume soon,” Amir-Abdollahian said, adding the key for Tehran was “the full economic benefit of Iran from the agreement concluded in 2015.”

“We hope that specifically the U.S. side, this time around, realistically and fairly makes responsible and committed efforts in the negotiations and on the path to reach the final point of the agreement,” he added.

Amir-Abdollahian also touched on the occupying regime of Israel’s acts of sabotage with respect to the JCPOA revival talks, saying “We do not brook provocative measures of the fake Israeli regime.”

“Iran would not stand idly by in the face of the threatening moves of the Zionist regime, including its destructive measures in the talks about the Islamic Republic’s peaceful nuclear program.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors adopted an anti-Iran resolution after its chief made a controversial visit to Occupied Palestine.

On the same day, June 8, Tehran said it had disconnected a number of IAEA cameras that had been monitoring its nuclear sites.

Observers believe Borrell’s visit to Tehran was a damage control bid by the West after its escalation of the situation through a resolution which many have described as unnecessary and senseless.

During the talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the accord, Iran has repeatedly called for guarantees from the Biden administration that there will be no repeat of Trump’s pullout.