Moscow’s demands delay Iran nuclear deal

Russian intervention over Western sanctions compels negotiators to put Vienna talks on hold

THE European Union has announced that talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal would be paused after last-minute Russian demands threatened to torpedo the negotiations.

Josep Borrell, the EU’S foreign policy chief, tweeted that “a final text is essentially ready and on the table”, but blamed “external factors” for the delay.

“As co-ordinator, I will, with my team, continue to be in touch with all participants and the US to overcome the current situation and to close the agreement,” Mr Borrell wrote.

Talks started in Vienna last April, seeking to resurrect the 2015 deal that Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 when he was US president.

Iran responded to reimposed US economic sanctions by steadily reneging on its own commitments under the deal.

Tehran has always maintained it has no ambitions to create nuclear weapons and now wants all sanctions lifted plus assurances from Washington that it will never withdraw from the deal again.

However, last week Russia, which is a signatory to the agreement, demanded guarantees that the Western sanctions imposed on its economy following the invasion of Ukraine would not affect its trade with Iran under any fresh deal.

On Tuesday Western powers warned Russia against sabotaging the negotiations, warning that “the window of opportunity is closing”.

“We call on all sides to make the decisions necessary to close this deal now, and on Russia not to add extraneous conditions to its conclusion,” Britain, France and Germany said in a joint statement to the UN.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, dismissed the latest Russian demands as “irrelevant”.

And Victoria Nuland, US under secretary of state for political affairs said: “Russia is trying to up the ante and broaden its demands and we are not playing Let’s Make A Deal.”

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s top negotiator, said claims that Moscow was “dominating” the negotiations were “misinformation”. “This is flattering but nonsense,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, on Thursday Iran accused the US of introducing new demands and of “complicating” negotiations. “There is no rational justification for some of the new demands made by the US and it contradicts the country’s position on reaching an agreement swiftly,” said Hossein Amir-abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister.

He did not specify the demands, but said “the US cannot pass on a new and different message to us every day through the coordinator”, in reference to the EU.

Earlier on Thursday, Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s top security official, tweeted: “Vienna negotiations are becoming more complicated every hour without a political decision by the United States.”

“US approach to Iran’s principled demands, coupled with its unreasonable offers and unjustified pressure to hastily reach an agreement, show that the United States isn’t interested in a strong deal that would satisfy both parties,” he added.

A pause in the talks could give “momentum” to resolve any remaining issues, according to Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman.

“Successful conclusion of talks will be the main focus of all,” he tweeted.

“No external factor will affect our joint will to go forward for a collective agreement.”

Diplomats had been suggesting an agreement was likely “within days”.

“It’s really down to a very small number of outstanding issues,” a US spokesman said at a news conference on Thursday.

‘Russia is trying to up the ante and broaden its demands but we are not playing Let’s Make A Deal’