Iran Nuclear Talks Hang On ‘Specifics Of Language’

The diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also told Iran International’s Ahamd Samadi that the US is prepared to continue negotiations on changes in the form of the text proposed last week by the EU coordinator in the Vienna nuclear talks.

Diplomats met and discussed the restoration of the 2015 nuclear deal, the JCPOA from August 4-8 in Vienna after talks had stalled in March. The EU proposed a text based on the negotiations to Iran and the US for their final agreement. Washington has said it is ready to proceed based on the proposal, while Tehran is set to send its response midnight Monday.

The diplomat maintained that “If Iran wants to make major changes in the draft, the United States will clearly reject it.”

State Department spokesperson Ned Price in his Monday briefing announced that the US will “privately” share its views on EU’s final draft with the bloc’s High Representative Josep Borrell.

Answering questions at length, Price added that the US agrees “with his fundamental point that what could be negotiated has been negotiated, and that is why the High Representative took it upon himself to propose a text that is substantially based on the March proposal that has been in play for some time.”

Price’s comment was further proof that Washington does not want to reopen major negotiations with Iran after 16 months of exhausting indirect talks. Iran has refused to directly meet with American diplomats.

Price also underlined that President Joe Biden is adamant not to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

“We will use all tools available to deter, to contain and otherwise counter dangerous Iranian activities in the region and in some cases well beyond, not the least of which as we’ve all been discussing in recent days is the plotting against former US officials and mental threats to American citizens,” he maintained.

Price was referring to cases that US authorities have said Iranian agents were behind plots to kill former national security adviser John Bolton and other Trump administration officials, and the arrest of an armed man outside to home of an Iranian activist, Masih Alinejad, in Brooklyn, NY. Moreover, the serious attack on renowned author Salman Rushdie last week has also led many to blame Iran for having condemned him to death and maintaining a bounty on more than $3 million on his head.

Many have since expressed outrage and dismay that the administration is still willing to conclude a new nuclear deal with Iran and provide sanctions relief.

However, Price reiterated the administration’s position that diplomacy is the best way to put Iran’s nuclear program back into JCPOA limits. He also added that if Tehran refuses to reach a deal on JCPOA, Washington is “equally prepared to continue the vigorous enforcement of our sanctions in the imposition of other diplomatic pressure.”

Price also insisted that contrary to media reports, the US is not about to lift sanctions imposed on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

In response to Iran International’s question at the briefing, Price reiterated that Iran has to drop all demands “beyond the scope of the JCPOA.”

Referring to President Biden’s position, the spokesperson said, “We have long called these demands extraneous, they have no place in Vienna, they have no place in the discussions regarding a potential return to compliance with the JCPOA.”

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday, “We have not offered our final conclusion to the opposite side yet. We will relay our final conclusion on the outstanding issues to the EU coordinator in writing by midnight today to see what feedback it will have and what reaction the US will show.”

Reiterating calls on the US to take “a realistic and flexible approach” to Tehran’s offer, he added that “The American side has orally agreed to two proposals offered by Iran,” and that Washington's oral acceptance of the Iranian offers "must turn into a text and it must show flexibility on one issue."

“However, the US ... wants to get more concessions and does not show flexibility. We must talk more and those parties that are trying to get our positions closer should [try to] get the Americans closer to our logical viewpoints,” he said, hinting that Iran will try to make the talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) linger on. 

Emphasizing the significance of the “upcoming days,” the Iranian foreign minister stressed that Tehran is ready to reach a conclusion through a foreign ministerial meeting and announce the final agreement if its views are accepted and its redlines are respected. 

Amir-Abdollahian’s remarks and statements by other officials show that Tehran is not yet satisfied with the EU offer on the table and expects more negotiations.

“We are close to an agreement provided that Iran’s red lines are respected,” Nasser Kanaani told his weekly briefing. “Relative progress has been achieved, but these advances have not fully satisfied Iran’s legal demands, and we have other expectations from the other side…”

Kanaani said consultations “at the highest level” had taken place and were “continuing.” Decisions over the nuclear program rest with the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), which has around 23 members, although are likely to be shaped by more informal meetings with Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader.

Although Iran may soon send its repsonse to the EU, it does not mean a final agreement. Iran statements show that Tehran is still determined to haggle for more concessions.

The official news agency IRNA cited Friday a “senior Iranian diplomat” that a European Union text presented August 8 by Enrique Mora, who has coordinated 18-month talks with world powers including the United States, “can be acceptable if it provides assurances."

August 15 deadline?

The Wall Street Journal August 9 cited “two people with knowledge of the discussions” suggesting the EU had set an August 15 deadline for an Iranian response, although the newspaper also quoted Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying it wasn’t for the EU to issue ultimatums.

Reuters news agency Friday quoted a European official suggesting an answer was expected from Iran within “a very, very few weeks.” A tweet from Iranian journalist Sara Massoumi Monday reported that Iran would respond by the end of Monday, August 15.

While European and American officials presented the Mora document as a “final text,” Iran reacted to it rather as a set of suggestions for restoring the 2015 nuclear agreement, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). IRNA called it “some ideas concerning some of the remaining issues.”

As Iranian and US negotiations left Vienna August 8 after the most recent round of nuclear talks, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, tweeted that while “what can be negotiated has been negotiated” and that “behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals.”

Tehran Denies Rushdie Role

Opponents of the JCPOA in Washington seized on Friday’s attack on writer Salman Rushdie as further justification for breaking off talks with Iran, while some commentators in Iran have detected a plot designed to undermine efforts to revive the JCPOA.

Iran Monday rejected any connection with the stabbing of the author of the 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, deemed blasphemous by some Muslims. Suspect Hadi Mattar has denied a charge of attempted murder.

A statement Sunday from Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, on the Rushdie assault made no reference to the JCPOA talks: “Iranian state institutions have incited violence against Rushdie for generations, and state-affiliated media recently gloated about the attempt on his life. This is despicable.”

There was no mention of the nuclear deal, the JCPOA, in the official readout of the cabinet meeting, and state agencies reported that President Ebrahim Raisi only talked about the "discourse of resistance" as the only effective way to tackle problems facing the Islamic World.

‘Resistance’ is a label Tehran uses to refer to its allies and proxies in the Middle East who follow its foreign and regional policies.

Referring to August 14 designated as the “Day of Islamic Resistance” in the official calendar of the country, the president praised the concept of resistance in confronting “world arrogance”, an expression the Islamic Republic uses to refer to the United States. 

As the European Union submitted a final take-it-or-leave-it proposal to restore the Iran nuclear deal, some reports say Iran is unlikely to agree to a return to the JCPOA. 

The new text reportedly includes guarantees that foreign companies will be able to invest in Iran or operate there once sanctions are lifted, without fearing the repercussions of any party withdrawing from the deal, as the United States did in 2018 under President Donald Trump, but Tehran demanded more drastic concessions outside the scope of the original agreement, including over an International Atomic Energy Agency probe into undeclared nuclear material found in the country.

In an interview with TASS published on Sunday, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to the international organizations in Vienna, said, "In the event of favorable development of events the final agreement may be reached as early as next week."

Underlining that EU coordinators have made several amendments to the text that is on the table now, Ulyanov noted that "However, it is possible if all countries participating in the Vienna talks agree with the version of the text provided by EU coordinators on August 8. If amendments, objections appear it is difficult to project further developments now. We have to wait for the beginning of next week.”

Emphasizing that the current text is “not an EU text,” he explained that it is developed by all participants of the talks that have been underway since April 2021. 

He reiterated that the US has apparently agreed, whereas Iran has not yet defined its position on the text, which is why “I will not speculate on what issues Teheran may still have. As coordinators, the EU’s representatives may offer compromise options, which they did.”

Conflicting messages came at the end of the latest round of Vienna talks to salvage the 2015 nuclear pact, which concluded on August 7 after 16 months of negotiations, as Ulyanov expressed optimism, the US envoy Rob Malley was quoted as voicing disappointment, and Tehran urging Washington to be flexible.