Above photo: Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria, where closed-door talks on the Iran nuclear deal took place. Press TV.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell claimed on Monday that talks in Vienna have concluded.
The parties must now say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the final text of the agreement as there is no room for further negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, in a conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavosoglu, said on Wednesday, August 10, that Iran “hopes that the American side, with a realistic and pragmatic view and acceptance of the legitimate demands of the Islamic Republic of Iran, will provide the ground for an agreement on the final text,” Press Tv reported.
Iran had earlier objected to media reports on Monday claiming that the final draft of the deal has been reached and negotiations are finalized. Iran said that the US has to respond to its fundamental demands before any deal is signed.
Abdollahian made it clear that Iran will not sign any deal that does not address all the issues raised in the talks related to Iranian interests.
Earlier on Monday, European Union foreign policy chief and coordinator of the Vienna talks Josep Borrell said that there is no room for further negotiations as “everything that could be negotiated has been incorporated into the final version of the text.” He asserted that “it is now up to the signatory countries to take political decisions” and “it’s yes or no.”
According to the text of the conversation between Abdollahian and Borrell on Monday, provided by the Iranian foreign ministry, the Iranian foreign minister reiterated that “if the parties of the talks, especially the US, act realistically and avoid unconstructive approaches, the road will be paved for an agreement.”
Reacting to the news of the final text of the deal, Seyed Mohammad Marandi, part of the earlier Iranian delegation in Vienna, said that the “ball is in the US court” now. Explaining Iranian insistence on clear commitments in the text, he highlighted Trump’s legacy which had led to the US withdrawal in 2018, saying that “any deal must rest on a solid foundation.”
In May 2018, then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the multi-party Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, and imposed a series of economic and political sanctions on Iran, claiming that the nuclear deal signed in 2015 gives undue advantage to Iranians.
In response to the US’ so-called maximum pressure campaign, Iran scaled back its own commitments under the deal and increased its stockpile of nuclear material and the level of enrichment. In order to renew the JCPOA, the remaining signatories of the deal – the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – launched indirect talks in Vienna in April 2021 after Joe Biden became the US president and expressed his willingness to rejoin the deal.