Majority of Countries Involved in JCPOA Talks Support EU Proposal: Borrell
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said most countries involved in nuclear talks with Iran agree with a European Union proposal to save the 2015 nuclear deal.
"Most of them agree, but I still don't have the answer from the United States, which I expect during this week," Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said in an interview with Spain's national broadcaster TVE on Tuesday.
He hastened to add that Iran has requested a few changes to the EU proposal, which has not yet been made public.
Borell stated that the proposal comes after 16 months of indirect talks between Iran and the US, with the EU acting as a mediator.
On August 15, a week after the latest round of talks concluded in Vienna, Iran submitted its response to the EU draft proposal.
On August 8, representatives from Iran and the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), concluded four days of talks with a modified text on the table.
After responding to the EU proposal, Tehran urged Washington to demonstrate "realism and flexibility" in order to reach an agreement.
The EU confirmed a day later that it had received Iran's response, saying it is "studying" it with the deal's parties and the US.
Nabila Massrali, a spokesperson for Borrell, who coordinated talks between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries in Vienna, said they were "studying it" and "consulting with the other JCPOA participants and the US on the next steps."
Speaking at a university event in the northern Spanish city of Santander on Monday, Borrell said Iran's response was "reasonable," expressing "hope that this response will allow us to complete the negotiations."
The US State Department also issued a statement on Monday, saying “Iran responded with several comments,” adding that Washington “will respond to Iran's response as soon as our internal consultations are completed and as soon as our consultations with our close partners are completed."
Former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated draconian sanctions on Iran despite Tehran’s full compliance with its share of commitments under the landmark accord.
After exercising "strategic patience" for one year, Tehran started to gradually scale back its commitments under the deal in 2019 but maintained that its “remedial measures” were reversible provided the other parties fulfill their commitments under the multilateral agreement.
In April last year, Tehran and the world powers started negotiations in Vienna to salvage the deal and lift sanctions on Iran. Despite progress, the US indecisiveness and procrastination caused a stalemate in the talks.
