Iran: Agreement on reviving nuclear pact could come this week

Vienna, May 25 (EFE).- The Iranian representative to negotiations aimed at reinstating the 2015 pact regulating Tehran’s nuclear program expressed optimism as the talks resumed here Tuesday.

“In the last four periods, we have made relatively good progress and we have taken a certain path and we know we have to take a clear path,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, though adding that “serious and important issues” remained to be resolved.

“Today, we will start the negotiations again and we hope that during the few days of negotiations, we will be able to reach the final solutions,” he said.

The Russian delegate to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, also said that the process could be successfully concluded this week.

In 2015, Iran reached agreement with the United States, China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which called for Tehran to limit uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent – the minimum needed for a nuclear weapon is 90 percent – in return for a lifting of sanctions.

Three years later, then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and embarked on a “maximum pressure” campaign of escalating sanctions against Iran.

The other signatories to the 2015 pact sought to preserve the JCPOA, but Washington’s threats of imposing secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran crippled those efforts.

A year after the US pulled out, Iran began enriching uranium to 20 percent, citing a provision of the JCPOA that allows Tehran to depart from some of the conditions in the event of non-compliance by other parties.

Iran announced in mid-April that it was boosting uranium enrichment levels to 60 percent in response to a sabotage attack on the Natanz nuclear plant.

Tehran has also sought to increase pressure on the other JCPOA signatories by enacting laws that would limit access to Iranian nuclear installations for inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

On Monday, however, the Vienna-based IAEA said that Iran agreed to extend to the end of June an interim deal ensuring continuing access for the inspectors. EFE

mgb-as/drVienna, May 25 (EFE).- The Iranian representative to negotiations aimed at reinstating the 2015 pact regulating Tehran’s nuclear program expressed optimism as the talks resumed here Tuesday.

“In the last four periods, we have made relatively good progress and we have taken a certain path and we know we have to take a clear path,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, though adding that “serious and important issues” remained to be resolved.

“Today, we will start the negotiations again and we hope that during the few days of negotiations, we will be able to reach the final solutions,” he said.

The Russian delegate to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, also said that the process could be successfully concluded this week.

In 2015, Iran reached agreement with the United States, China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which called for Tehran to limit uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent – the minimum needed for a nuclear weapon is 90 percent – in return for a lifting of sanctions.

Three years later, then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and embarked on a “maximum pressure” campaign of escalating sanctions against Iran.

The other signatories to the 2015 pact sought to preserve the JCPOA, but Washington’s threats of imposing secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran crippled those efforts.

A year after the US pulled out, Iran began enriching uranium to 20 percent, citing a provision of the JCPOA that allows Tehran to depart from some of the conditions in the event of non-compliance by other parties.

Iran announced in mid-April that it was boosting uranium enrichment levels to 60 percent in response to a sabotage attack on the Natanz nuclear plant.