‘Final’ Deal Should Guarantee Iran’s Rights

Time for Decision by West

Date: 16 August 2022 - 21:44

News ID: ۱۰۵۸۳۳

BRUSSELS (Dispatches) -- The European Union is assessing Iran’s response to what the bloc has called its proposal to save a 2015 nuclear deal, and consulting with the United States, an EU spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“For the moment, we are studying it and we are consulting with the other JCPOA participants and the U.S. on the way forward,” the spokesperson told reporters in Brussels, referring to the nuclear deal by the official abbreviation JCPOA.
She declined to give a time frame for any reaction by the EU who is coordinating the negotiations in Vienna.
After 16 months of fitful, indirect U.S.-Iranian talks, with the EU shuttling between the parties, a senior EU official said on Aug. 8 the bloc had laid down a “final” offer and expected a response within a “very, very few weeks.”
Iran responded to the proposal late on Monday but neither Tehran nor the EU provided any details on the content of the reply.
Earlier on Monday, Iran’s foreign minister had called on the U.S. to show flexibility to resolve three remaining issues, suggesting Tehran’s response would not be a final acceptance or rejection.
Reuters said diplomats and officials had told it that whether Tehran accepts the EU’s “final” offer, the West was likely to declare the pact dead because keeping it alive served its interests.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump reneged on the nuclear deal reached before he took office, calling it too soft on Iran, and reimposed harsh U.S. sanctions, spurring the Islamic Republic after a year of “strategic patience” to scale down its compliance.
On Tuesday, CNN quoted what it called as a regional diplomat as saying that Tehran is seeking guarantees that it will be compensated if a future U.S. president pulls out of the pact.
According to the broadcaster, Iran has reservations about the possibility of a future president pulling out of the deal and unleashing new sanctions on the country.
“It seems there has been progress in bringing views closer,

especially in the issue of indirect sanctions on Iranian companies working abroad,” CNN cited the diplomat as saying.

An adviser to the Iranian negotiating team at talks on the deal in Vienna, Muhammad Marandi, confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that Iran was looking for guarantees that if a future U.S. administration withdraws from the deal, it will “have to pay a price.”

Marandi also said in a tweet on Monday that there were “differences” on two other issues, but declined to offer specifics.

The negotiations between the US and Iran are currently being negotiated by Qatar and the EU. Qatar’s deputy Foreign Minister Muhammad Al Khulaifi was sent to Tehran over the weekend for meetings with Iran’s negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani.

An EU spokesperson, Nabila Massrali, confirmed that Iran’s response had been received on Monday night and that the bloc was now in consultation with the U.S. and other participants of the deal.

Iran has said any final deal should protect the rights of the country and guarantee the removal of sanctions.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said if the U.S. showed a realistic and flexible reaction to Iran’s offer, they “would be at the point of agreement.”

Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran was ready to reach a conclusion through a foreign ministerial meeting and announce the final agreement if its views were accepted. “The upcoming days are important days,” he said.