According to the news on the US White House website on March 9, White House spokesman Psaki said on the same day that the United States will continue to contact Russia on the issue of resuming the Iranian nuclear agreement, but does not want to link this issue with the sanctions imposed by the United States on Russia against the situation in Ukraine.
"I would like to say that our team is continuing to engage with the parties involved in the Iranian nuclear negotiations, including Russia. We believe that the process of denuclearization of Iran is in our common interest with Russia. "In our view, the United States has nothing to ask for or propose on the issue of sanctions against Russia, which are aimed at Russia's 'invasion' of Ukraine." ”
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has led to a rapid deterioration in Relations between Russia and the West, bringing more uncertainty to the gradual progress of the Negotiations on the Iranian nuclear agreement. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said on the 5th that Russia asked the United States to ensure that sanctions would not harm trade and cooperation between Russia and Iran. In this regard, Iranian Foreign Minister Abdullahyan said on the phone with Lavrov on the 7th that Iran opposes sanctions against Russia, and Iran's cooperation with any country, including Russia, should not be affected by the atmosphere of sanctions.
White House spokesman Psaki is pictured from the surging image
At a press conference after the talks with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kazakhbayev on the 5th, Lavrov said that Russia requires the United States to make written assurances from officials at at least the secretary of state level, promising that Western sanctions will not affect Russia-Iran cooperation in trade, economy, investment, military and technology.
"Everything was fine, but the avalanche of sanctions imposed by the West, as far as I know, is not over." "We need clear assurances that the sanctions do not affect the trade, economic and investment relationships contained in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for Iran's nuclear program," Lavrov said. ”
He said that although the Iranian side still hopes to be clarified on some issues, the Negotiations on the Iranian Nuclear Agreement in Vienna have made considerable progress, and the parties have agreed on most issues, "from our point of view, if Iran agrees, these documents can already begin to be adopted." Recently, however, a number of problems have arisen concerning the interests of the Russian Federation. ”
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov held a press conference on the 5th
At a time when the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear agreement are "nearing completion", Russia's statement has created new uncertainty about the resumption of the agreement. The Financial Times quoted Ali Vaez, an Iran expert at the think tank International Crisis Group, as saying that Moscow's request showed that "there has been a conflating of Russia's 'invasion' of Ukraine and Iran's nuclear negotiations." ”
A senior Iranian official told British Reuters that Tehran was waiting for the Russian side to clarify Lavrov's comments, "It is necessary to have a clear understanding of what Moscow needs, and if their demands are related to the Iranian nuclear deal, then it is not difficult to find a solution ... But it would be complicated if Moscow demanded assurances that went beyond the scope of the JCPOA. ”
The United States did not directly respond to Lavrov's request, but insisted on discussing the Iranian nuclear agreement separately from the situation between Russia and Ukraine, trying to dilute the influence of Russia's statement. US Secretary of State Blinken said in an interview with THE US CBS on the 6th that the US sanctions against Russia and the prospect of re-signing the Iranian nuclear agreement have nothing to do with each other, "This is not a thing at all, it is not linked in any way." ”
Blinken also stressed at the time that it was "in Russia's interest" to ensure that Iran did not possess nuclear weapons, and that such "interests" existed regardless of whether Russia "invaded" Ukraine or not, regardless of U.S.-Russian relations.
The US State Department also issued a statement on the same day (6th), saying that the US sanctions against Russia are not related to the Iranian nuclear agreement, and if the parties successfully reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear agreement and resume performance, the relevant sanctions should not affect the implementation of the Iranian nuclear agreement.
Other European countries related to the JCPOA are also dissatisfied with Russia's statement. On March 8, Britain, France, and Germany called out to Russia in a joint statement, saying that the "temporary increase" was not conducive to negotiations: "The window for reaching a nuclear agreement on Iran is about to close, and all parties should make decisions on some key issues in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible." Russia's increase at this time is not conducive to the negotiation process. ”
A Spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said the parties were "very close" to reaching an agreement and that France feared that delaying the negotiation process could reinvent the prospects for negotiations.
Screenshot of the Reuters report
For Russia's demands, the Iranian side gave a positive response. According to the Russian Interfax News Agency reported on the 7th, Iranian Foreign Minister Abdullahiyan said in a telephone conversation with Lavrov that Iran opposes sanctions against Russia, and Iran's cooperation with any country, including Russia, should not be affected by the atmosphere of sanctions.
Speaking about the Iranian nuclear deal, Abdullahyan said the Iranian side is actively working towards a "good and lasting" agreement in Vienna, "So far we have made good progress, but there are still some problems in Vienna that need to be resolved, which requires a Western political solution." ”
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, with the continuous increase of sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries, international energy prices have also "risen and risen". Under the situation of soaring oil prices, whether Iran, an important oil producer, can return to the international crude oil market by resuming the Iranian nuclear agreement has also become a hot spot for all parties to pay close attention to.
The United States Bloomberg published a paper on the 7th that before the United States "completely blocked" Iranian oil exports in 2019, Iran was the second largest oil producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In order to speed up exports, Iran has moved tens of millions of barrels of crude oil to tankers ahead of schedule for storage, and if a deal can be reached, Iran is fully capable of restoring production capacity of 1 million barrels per day in a few months and could return to a peak of 3.7 million barrels per day next year.
Bloomberg pointed out that at the moment when oil prices are rising rapidly, the resumption of the Iranian nuclear agreement has become an "urgent issue". The agency expects iran to take about two months to resume exports after the deal is reached, and if Iran can release tens of millions of barrels of oil into the international market within a few months, it will help push international oil prices down.
Since April 2021, the parties to the Iranian nuclear agreement have held a number of talks in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the resumption of implementation of the treaty, and eight rounds of talks have been held in February this year. Russia's TASS news agency said that the negotiators are about to reach a consensus and are drafting a "final document" that is expected to achieve the goal of resuming the Iranian nuclear agreement in this round of talks.
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