EU's Mora Holds Meeting In Tehran As Iran Arrests Two Europeans

Iran and the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had agreed a three-month plan on March 5 for a series of exchanges for Iran to clarify remaining questions about uranium particles found in old sites kept secret from the IAEA. Following that process, the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi was supposed "to report his conclusion by the June 2022 (IAEA) Board of Governors" meeting, which begins on June 6.

However, Western diplomats have said there is little sign that Tehran has given satisfactory answers to the watchdog.

Talks to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have stalled since March, chiefly over Tehran's insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

While not technically part of the nuclear deal, one issue causing tension and distrust between Tehran and the West had been Iran's demand for the closure of the International Atomic Energy Agency's investigation into uranium particles found at three apparently old but undeclared sites.

Those sites suggest that Iran had nuclear material there that it did not declare to the agency.

Speaking to the EU parliament, Grossi said he remained extremely concerned by the situation and had told Iran that he found it difficult to imagine that the nuclear deal could be finalized if the IAEA had serious doubts about things that it should have known about.

"I am not trying to pass an alarmist message that we are at a dead end, but the situation does not look very good. Iran has not been forthcoming in the type of information we need from them," Grossi told European Parliament committees via webstream.

It has been four years since Israel revealed it had stolen old nuclear archives from a warehouse near Tehran, renewing accusations that Iran was secretly developing plans to build nuclear weapons. The IAEA has been long trying to get a full explanation from Tehran after it was allowed an inspection of the sites and traces of radioactive material was found.

The EU's Iran nuclear talks coordinator Enrique Mora arrives in Tehran on Tuesday in what he has described as the last bullet to save the diplomatic process to revie the 2015 nuclear deal, which also includes Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.

The Iranian government still says it stands on its “red lines” and demands lifting of US sanctions not directly related to the nuclear dispute. Pundits in Iran are pessimistic over Mora’s chances of making a breakthrough in his visit to Tehran.

Western officials have largely lost hope that it can be resurrected, sources familiar with the matter said, forcing them to weigh how to limit Iran's atomic program even as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has divided the big powers.

In the absence of an agreement to revive the JCPOA, Iran's economy has been gripped by chaos of rising food prices and possible political instability.

"We are, of course, still hopeful that some agreement is going to be reached within a reasonable time frame, although we have to recognise the fact that the window of opportunity could be closed any anytime," Grossi said.

Based on reporting by Reuters

The Judiciary spokesman Zabihollah Khodayan on Monday ruled out a prisoner swap, as initially the media had speculated would be the case.

Last week Iranian semi-official media reported that a death sentence for “espionage” against Hamidreza Djalali (Jalali) was approved by the supreme court and would be carried out soon. Djalali was arrested in 2016 when he traveled to Iran on the invitation of a university and later sentenced to death for "espionage."

The news came as the long trial of Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian judicial official in Sweden came to an end and the prosecution demanded in April the maximum sentence of life in prison.

The threat of executing Djalali was seen as pressure by Tehran to reduce the possible conviction of Nouri on charges of war crimes in the 1988 prison executions of thousands of political detainees in Iran.

Sweden arrested the man in 2019 when he arrived at Stockholm for a vacation, having been tipped off about his alleged crimes in 1988. Sweden has claimed universal jurisdiction in taking the action, since accusations against Nouri amounted to war crimes.

Judiciary’s Khodayan on Tuesday insisted that the scientist death sentence is not related to Nouri’s trial in Sweden and the government will take steps to carry it out. But Tehran had demanded Nouri’s release on May 2, and there is little public doubt that the Islamic Republic is pressuring Sweden.

On Monday, the spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh criticized Nouri’s trial, insisting that Sweden has no jurisdiction to prosecute the former official, who is accused of having had an active role in the summary trials and executions of political prisoners more than three decades ago.

Khatibzadeh complained that Nouri’s “basic rights” have been violated, but few governments or human rights organizations would take this charge seriously while Iran is notorious for its secret trials of political prisoners without due process of law.

Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy head of the Judiciary also announced that the Islamic Republic “will not tolerate the violation of Nouri’s human rights.” Gharibabadi was previously Iran’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna and participated in nuclear talks last year. He also repeated Tehran’s unproven accusations that Djalali was an Israeli spy.

“Sweden is Mossad’s intelligence partner and has pursued recruitment of certain individuals and actions against our national security,” he said. He claimed to have proof and said that he threatened the Swedish ambassador that if he complained again about Djalali’s case, Tehran would share the documents with the media.

Amid attempts by Europe to jump start stalled nuclear negotiation between Iran and the United States, the execution of Djalali would be damaging step, to say the least.

Both Sweden and the United States expressed deep concern last week over Iran’s threat to execute Djalali. The European Union and its foreign policy officials have not publicly condemned Iran’s latest threat, perhaps not to derail efforts to restart nuclear talks, but privately they might have brought the issue up with the Iranians.

Enrique Mora, the EU’s coordinator in the talks is scheduled to visit Tehran later Tuesday to discuss the stalled negotiations.

However, there was little if any sign of a positive attitude in the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman’s latest statement about the visit. Saeed Khatibzadeh said: "The United States has violated Iran's rights and has taken things from the Iranian nation's pocket which it should return."

Political analyst Ali Bigdeli told Nameh News website in Tehran on Monday that Mora's visit to Tehran is not likely to solve any problem. Bigdeli stressed that any breakthrough in the current situation of the talks needs a change of strategy and approach in Tehran.

Mora will stay in Tehran for more than one day, and this could mean that extensive talks are under way, although the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman's statement leaves very little hope for a "change of approach.” A change in Iran's strategy is even more unlikely following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's meeting with Syria's Bashar al-Assad in Tehran on Sunday, as the outcome of the meeting could be a bigger role for Iran in the region.

During the past weeks some Iranian observers suggested that Iran should soften its positions in Vienna as the country badly needs an agreement that would reduce the pressure of sanctions on Iran's ailing economy.

Bigdeli said Mora was not successful in his previous missions to Tehran. This is his second visit since late March. He was not successful in his first visit as the Americans rejected the idea of delisting the IRGC as a terrorist group. But he added that now Biden might need an achievement before Congressional elections in November.

Bigdeli explained that "Talk of IRGC has derailed the nuclear negotiations. Now Iran needs to change its strategy about the region and problems are unlikely to be solved unless it adopts a pacifist approach to its regional and international strategy."

He added: "Iran needs to change its ideological anti-West approach which has led to the current deadlock. This has brought Israel closer to our borders…For once we should begin to change our views about the missile program, regional issues, human rights and so on if we really want to solve our problems."

Bigdeli stressed: "We should prioritize our national interests. Without doing so, Mora's visit and similar initiatives are not going to change anything. Our current approach has led to our isolation and created all of these economic problems."

Meanwhile, another Iranian political commentator and former diplomat Jalal Sadatian has also told Nameh News that "There is not much hope in reaching an agreement in Vienna unless one or both parties make essential changes to their positions."

He said, "Iran should have allowed the previous government [Hassan Rouhani] to forge an agreement as everything was ready [last year]. But that opportunity is lost.,” and now the IRGC issue is preventing a deal, waiting for a political decision to be made in Tehran [by Khamenei]."

Sadatian added that "in the current situation the US is not in a hurry as it knows that we have problems in our country." He went on to say that Iran is now more cautious in its relations with Moscow after the war in Ukraine and is counting to some extent on building better ties with Europe. But if the talks are not conclusive, pressures inside Iran will mount to a level higher than what we see today."

The EU coordinator of the talks Enrique Mora's visit does not mean that he is "coming with a new message after a pause [in Vienna talks]," spokesman of the ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters Monday at his weekly press briefing. "At the moment the agenda of Mora, the EU, and the JCPOA coordinator is only conveying messages and nothing new is expected to happen.'

The Vienna negotiations stopped in mid-March as Iran demanded the removal of its Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) for the US list of terrorist organization. The Biden administration so far has not accepted Tehran’s demand as opposition to such a concession has grown in Washington.

Khatibzadeh said the plan for the visit was proposed by the EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell his phone talk with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on April 22 and that this required in person meetings and talks in Tehran. So far, he added, the only meeting arranged for Mora in Tehran will be with Iran's top negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani.

Calling the recent motions by the US Senate "anti-diplomacy," Khatibzadeh said Iran and the 4+1 have shown commitment to the diplomatic path and reaching "a good, reliable and lasting agreement" so it is the US that has to make a decision.

On April 4, a clear majority of Senators voted for two motions expressing their opposition to the Biden administrations negotiating approach to Iran.

The steps Iran requires the US to take to ensure its verifiable return to the 2015 nuclear deal, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) cannot be reduced to the delisting of Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the spokesman said. "The United States must guarantee to observe all the rights that it has deprived the Iranian nation from and abide by the UN Resolution 2231."

The Biden administration has said that it will only negotiate over delisting the IRGC if Tehran agrees to negotiate over other matters such as its regional activities which are similarly outside the purview of the JCPOA.

Khatibzadeh also confirmed the visit of Qatar's Emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, to Tehran this week and said discussion of "bilateral, regional and international matters" was on the agenda of the visit. "Iran and the 4+1 are on one side of the stream and the US is on the side. There is no need for mediation between Iran and the 4+1," he said.

A source quoted by Reuters Sunday said Qatar's emir who will visit Tehran this week and then head on to Europe and the UK, will focus on mediating between Iran and European sides in the Vienna talks to bring the parties to "a new middle ground" among other things such as energy security during his trips.

Syrian President Bashar Assad visited Tehran on Sunday and received praise by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and promises of stronger cooperation. Although the real purpose of the unannounced visit was not clear, it could strengthen perceptions of Iran's meddling in the region, if its military role expands in Syria in the wake of Russia's entanglement in Ukraine.

The IRGC is deeply involved in Syria's decade-old civil war, seen as a serious threat by Israel, as Iranian weapons and personnel entrench themselves near Israel's borders.

Speaking to a group of his former officials on Sunday, Rouhani stressed the need for lifting economic sanctions, which is tied to restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He added that the administration of Ebrahim Raisi should not miss the opportunity to reach an agreement with world powers.

Talks began more than a year ago -- when Rouhani was still in office -- in Vienna to revive the JCPOA, and the negotiating sides had reportedly reached some initial agreements until Iran’s presidential elections in June when Tehran stopped the talks for five months. According to reports, about “70 to 80 percent" of the draft agreement was prepared during Rouhani’s term.

The negotiations continued under Raisi, but they seem to have reached a dead-end as they have stalled since mid-March, primarily because of Tehran’s demand to remove its Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) from a US list of terrorist organizations.

The Biden administration so far has not accepted Iran’s demand for delisting the IRGC, as more domestic pressure has emerged in Washington against such a move. Almost all Republicans and many Democrats oppose concessions to Iran.

Enrique Mora, the European Union coordinator for the talks, is scheduled to visit Tehran on Tuesday to exchange views of Tehran and Washington, in what seems to be among the last measures to resolve the remaining issues.