A disappointing first week with no hope of a breakthrough. The round of negotiations opened with the return to Vienna of the Iranian negotiators on Monday, November 29, did not allow the slightest progress in an attempt to save the 2015 nuclear agreement. The talks were suspended on Friday, December 3 afternoon, in some confusion. It was announced a little later that discussions would resume on Wednesday, December 8, time for each delegation to take a break, return to its capital and consult its government.
After five days of negotiations, the United States and the Europeans have made known, as summarized by the latter, “Their disappointment and their concern”. For them, the Iranians continue to advance maximalist demands to lift all the sanctions approved against them at the initiative of the Trump administration, when it denounced the nuclear agreement three years ago. They also demand guarantees to avoid any American withdrawal, in the event of a new compromise. Two unacceptable demands for Washington.
To make matters worse, the Iranian or American representatives do not speak to each other directly in the Austrian capital. Iran, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and China – the countries which have not denounced the agreement – are discussing in the lounges of the prestigious Coburg hotel, without the United States, installed in another establishment. Diplomats commute to get the messages across. To no avail at this point.
“The new Iranian government did not come to Vienna with constructive proposals”White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki questioned on Friday: “Iran’s approach this week has unfortunately not been to attempt to resolve the outstanding issues”, she continued. More importantly, Iran has entered this new round of negotiations with a new round of nuclear provocations, as reported by the IAEA [l’Agence internationale de l’énergie atomique], and they still have not succeeded in reaching an agreement with the IAEA to restore the cooperation and transparency which they have deteriorated in recent months ”, continued Mme Psaki. Tehran makes it difficult for agency inspectors to access its sites.
Time too short to continue
Iranian proposals “Are either below” of the agreement, when it comes to their commitments to put an end to their nuclear program, “Or beyond” about the demands placed on the United States before agreeing to a new compromise, explained the French, German and British representatives. Europeans argue that time is too short to proceed on the basis of Iranian demands. They suspect the Iranians, who deny that they want to build a nuclear bomb, of continuing to carry out their program, playing the clock on the rescue of the agreement. Tehran already enriches uranium to more than 60%, in violation of the 2015 agreement, and has modern centrifuges to produce fissile material.
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