Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said, on Sunday, that he had sent a counter-proposal to the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell to end negotiations and restore the 2015 agreement as soon as possible.
“We have shared our proposals with content and format so that a speedy outcome of the Vienna negotiations can be reached,” Ali Bagheri Kani, explained in a post on the social networking site Twitter.
The Iranian diplomat noted that the goal is to “fix the complex and harmful problem caused by the unilateral and illegal withdrawal of the United States” from this 2015 agreement.
“We are working closely with our partners (…) in particular with the Coordinator, to give the United States another opportunity to show goodwill and act responsibly,” the Iranian diplomat stressed.
Iran and six world powers — the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China — signed an agreement over Iran’s controversial nuclear program in 2015, agreeing to drastically reduce uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
In 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and from there Iran violated the understanding and increased its ‘stockpile’ of enriched uranium.
International talks held in Vienna on reviving the agreement and returning the United States to the protocol, following the political transition with Joe Biden’s election, have been stalled since April.
Ali Bagheri Kani stressed that “Iran is ready to conclude negotiations within a short period of time, as long as the other side is ready to do the same.”
On Tuesday, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced that a new agreement had been submitted to Iran and the United States to reactivate the nuclear deal.
Washington responded that it was studying the proposal and would respond to the EU as soon as possible.
Borrell, who plays a facilitating role in these meetings, on Saturday urged the parties involved in negotiations to resume the Iran nuclear deal to make decisions “now,” warning that the space for important new commitments “has been exhausted.”
The Spanish politician stated that after 15 months of “intense and constructive” negotiations and “numerous interactions” with the participants in the agreement and with the United States of America, “the space has run out for additional important commitments on the deal.”
Josep Borrell stressed that the 2015 agreement included “strict” restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities and the broadest monitoring and inspection regime applied by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear agency.
Moreover, the director general of this body, Rafael Grossi, admitted his concern about Iran’s recent claims, that it would soon be “technically” in a position to make nuclear weapons.
An advisor to Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei revealed that Tehran can “produce 90% of enriched uranium without problems, and the purity required to make atomic bombs.”
Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency (AEAI) confirmed on Monday that it will not operate 27 IAEA surveillance cameras until the 2015 nuclear deal is restored.
