© Reuters The restart of the nuclear deal with Iran hangs? Germany, France and Great Britain accuse: ‘serious doubts’ about Iran’s sincerity in the negotiations
–
Financial Associated Press, 11 September (by Bian Chun) After nearly 18 months of negotiations, the possibility of resuming the nuclear deal with Iran faces new uncertainties. The European powers said they had “serious doubts” about Iran’s sincerity in negotiating a nuclear deal. Iran has already refuted this.
The governments of France, Germany and the UK issued a joint statement on Saturday accusing Iran of jeopardizing the prospects of a nuclear deal.
German, French and English said that the coordinators made further changes to the “final text” which pushed flexibility to the limit. But Iran has chosen not to “take the opportunity” to bring the parties to a final agreement and “continue updating its nuclear program”.
Germany, France and Britain said that when the parties were close to reaching an agreement, Iran made new demands and this latest request raised serious doubts about Iran’s sincerity.
“As Iran cannot reach an agreement at the negotiating table, we will work with international partners to negotiate the best way to address the continued development of Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” Germany, France and Britain said in a statement. .
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will begin a week-long board meeting at its Vienna headquarters on Monday, when the Iranian nuclear deal will be the main topic.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Qanani responded to comments from Great Britain, France and Germany on the Iranian nuclear issue. Unfortunately, these three countries have already embarked on a path to sabotaging the negotiations by making such a statement and, if they still hold this position, they should be held accountable for the consequences, he said.
He also said that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and has always been fully verified. Britain, France and Germany are advised to avoid using language that threatens Iran. They should learn from the US failure to “maximize the pressure” against Iran. “Threats and sanctions cannot prevent Iran from pursuing its rights”.
Iran’s enriched uranium stocks are increasing dramatically
Iran’s enriched uranium stocks have grown substantially over the past three months, the IAEA reported Wednesday. Iran’s supply of highly enriched uranium, which is 60 percent enriched, increased by about 30 percent to 55.6 kilograms in the quarter ending August 21, according to the report. The country’s total enriched uranium supply has grown to 3,941 kilograms.
The abundance of 20% is the upper limit of LEU and more than 20% can be classified as HEU. And 90% enriched uranium is called weapon enriched uranium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he was increasingly concerned that Iran is not engaging with the agency on outstanding security issues. No progress has been made in addressing these issues.
The stalemate is difficult to break
In July 2015, Iran reached a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue with the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany. Under the agreement, Iran has pledged to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. In May 2018, the US government unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and restarted and added a series of sanctions against Iran. Since May 2019, Iran has progressively suspended the implementation of some terms of the agreement, but has promised to take “reversible” measures.
From April 2021, the parties to the Iran nuclear deal will hold several rounds of talks in Vienna, the capital of Austria, to discuss the issue of the United States and Iran resuming implementation of the treaty, and the United States indirectly participates. to negotiations. Negotiations were suspended in March of this year. The last round of talks took place in Vienna in early August.
After a series of negotiations, the EU presented a “final text” to the negotiating parties last month, hoping to unblock the situation and restart the nuclear deal with Iran, but negotiations have been difficult since then.
Late last month, Iran gave its latest response to the “updated text” saying it had to finish the IAEA investigation into the country before accepting any new deal. But the US refused to link the Iran nuclear deal to the IAEA investigation, saying the latest Iranian demands have led to a relapse in the talks.
–
