'We Are Close', UK Envoy To Iran Talks Says As Europeans Fly Home
Nuclear talks with Iran are close to reaching a deal, the chief British envoy said on Friday as she and her French and German colleagues flew home to brief ministers.
Nuclear talks with Iran are close to reaching a deal, the chief British envoy said on Friday as she and her French and German colleagues flew home to brief ministers.
"We are close. E3 negotiators leaving Vienna briefly to update Ministers on state of play. Ready to return soon," Stephanie Al-Qaq said on Twitter, referring to the chief British, French and German diplomats involved in the talks.
Despite the British diplomat's teasing Twitter post, two sources with direct knowledge said there was still no deal and European and Iranian officials said that Iran's lead negotiator, nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani was staying in Vienna.
Negotiators have worked for 11 months to try to revive the 2015 deal, known as JCPOA, under which Iran limited its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain fissile material for a bomb - an ambition Tehran denies - in return for relief from economic sanctions.
Then-US President Donald Trump reneged on the pact in 2018, restoring US sanctions that have slashed Iran's oil exports. Iran followed suit by increasing the level of its uranium enrichment violating the deal's nuclear limitations.
It is not clear what exactly the remaining issues are in the talks, but the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is flying to Iran on Saturday to iron out past issues of suspected clandestine nuclear activities.
With reporting by Reuters
An ultraconservative lawmaker even insisted on Thursday that Iranian negotiators should leave Vienna at once as he believes there is nothing to be gained in the talks.
International relations expert Ali Bigdeli told Didban Iran website in Tehran that if there is no agreement between Iran and world powers, the rate of exchange for the US dollar will rise to 400,000 rials as opposed to the current rate of around 260,000 rials in less than a week.
The analyst added that if negotiators fail to reach an agreement, Iran's case might be sent to the UN Security council, where more sanctions are likely to be imposed on Tehran even if Russia and China back the Islamic Republic.
Bigdeli said that concern over the implications of not reaching an agreement on Iran's already ailing economy could lead to growing concerns about the eruption of riots in Iran.
He sounded almost certain that the negotiations in Vienna are doomed to fail. He said Iran's support of Russia has affected the fate of the nuclear talks and it looks like the talks are ending in a deadlock as Iran's demands from the West are not rooted in reality.
Bigdeli went on to say that in the new Iranian year which starts in late March, prices will rise even further, and without an agreement, Iran's international isolation as a result of its support for Russia will lead to an unprecedented level of public dissatisfaction which will end in major riots.
Meanwhile, former lawmaker Mansour Haghighatpour told reporters in Tehran that those who are against a nuclear deal with the United States are no more than 20 lawmakers in the Iranian parliament and they cannot decide for the entire nation and impose their hardliner views.
He criticized hardliner lawmakers who say Iran should not make an agreement with the United States, adding that it is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who makes the final decision about steering the negotiations.
In another development, firebrand member of parliament Mahmoud Nabavian, a staunch opponent of any deal with the West, particularly with the United States, told reporters in Tehran that Iran's problems have nothing to do with the sanctions and insisted that Iranian negotiators should leave Vienna at once.
Nabavian, a member of the ultraconservative Paydari Party, boasted that in spite of sanctions Iran has had a lot of progress particularly in the area of developing military hardware. He added that creating relative welfare for the nation is feasible regardless of the economic pressures, only if the government has the right roadmap.
This has been a constant argument of hardliners, while many former officials and economists keep saying that the country would be doomed if sanctions continue.
He said the conditions set for Iran by the other side is unfair and will cause losses for Tehran. He said while 980 Iranians are sanctioned by the United States, Washington is prepared to lift the sanction on only 20 individuals.
Nonetheless, he claimed that sanctions affect only 20 percent of Iran's economy, and the other 80 percent should be attributed to poor management.
