EU submits draft Iran nuclear deal text
BRUSSELS: The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief said he has proposed a new drat text to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying there is no room let for further major compromises.
“I have now put on the table a text that addresses, in precise detail, the sanctions liting as well as the nuclear steps needed to restore the JCPOA,” the European Union’s Josep Borrell wrote in an essay in the Financial Times.
He was referring to the 2015 deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“Ater 15 months of intense, constructive negotiations in Vienna and countless interactions with the JCPOA participants and the US, I have concluded that the space for additional significant compromises has been exhausted,” he added.
Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, confirmed Borrell had put forth a new proposal, adding on Twiter, “We, too, have our own ideas, both in substance & form, to conclude the negotiations which would be shared.”
US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that Washington was reviewing the “drat understanding” Borrell shared with Iran and other parties to the 2015 deal and would respond directly to the EU.
Borrelldidnotprovidedetailsabouthisproposal, but he suggested - as many Western officials have before - that time was running out to restore the deal under which Iran limited its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions.
“It is now time for swit political decisions to conclude the Vienna negotiations on the basis of my proposed text and to immediately return to a fully implemented JCPOA,” he wrote.
“If the deal is rejected, we risk a dangerous nuclear crisis, set against the prospect of increased isolation for Iran and its people.”
He accepted it may not address all US concerns about Iran, and acknowledged there are serious reservations in Tehran about implementing a deal “ater the negative experience of recent years”. But he said “decisions need to be taken now.” Borrell warned: “If the deal is rejected, we risk a dangerous nuclear crisis, set against the prospect of increased isolation for Iran and its people. It is our joint responsibility to conclude the deal.”