Tehran, 28 Oct (Xinhua) -- The prospects for the imminent resumption of the Iranian nuclear negotiations are unclear
Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Wencheng Wang Shoubao
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Bagheri said after holding consultations with EU External Action Agency Deputy Secretary-General Mora on the Iranian nuclear negotiations in Brussels on the 27th that Iran agreed to restart Iranian nuclear negotiations before the end of November.
Analysts believe that with Iran's statement, the Iranian nuclear negotiations, which have been interrupted for several months, are expected to be put back on the agenda, but the prospects for negotiations are still uncertain given that the differences between Iran and the United States are still large and they are afraid that they will not give in easily.
Negotiations are about to restart
Bagheri posted on social media on the 27th that he and Mora "had a very serious and constructive dialogue on the basic elements of successful negotiations." Before going to the EU on the 25th, he said that Iran is determined to continue to participate in the Iranian nuclear negotiations, but the negotiations should "comprehensively and effectively" lift the illegal sanctions against Iran, ensure the normalization of Iran's foreign trade and economic relations, and provide a "credible guarantee" for the recurrence of acts of reneging on commitments.
Analysts here pointed out that due to the impact of US sanctions, Iran's oil exports have dropped sharply, and a large number of Iranian overseas funds have been frozen, which has led to the difficulties of Iran's domestic economy. Iran has a strong willingness to negotiate the lifting of sanctions. The failure to announce a return to nuclear negotiations earlier was largely due to the fact that the Lech administration needed time to review previous negotiations and study new negotiating strategies after taking office in August.
The Iranian government has repeatedly stressed that the Iranian nuclear negotiations should be "results-oriented". Iranian President Lehi said again in an interview with Iranian state television on the 18th that Iran takes results-oriented negotiations seriously, and if the United States is serious, they should lift the unjust sanctions against Iran.
In addition to its own will, the EU has also played an important role in bringing Iran to agree to return to the Iranian nuclear negotiations.
Liu Lanyu, an expert on Iran at the Institute of International and Regional Studies at Tsinghua University, analyzed that the EU, as an "intermediary", has always been the "core mediator" of the Iranian nuclear negotiations that began in April this year. The negotiations between Iran and the European Union can be said to be a good start to restarting the multi-party talks in Vienna.
Future prospects are unclear
After Bagheri released a positive signal that Iran was willing to return to the Iranian nuclear negotiations, both the United States and Iran immediately shouted to each other to show their sincerity.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahiyan urged the US government to show its "serious will" to return to the Iranian nuclear agreement on the 27th, and once again asked the United States to unfrozen some of Iran's overseas assets that have been frozen due to US sanctions to show sincerity in negotiations. According to the ABC, a U.S. State Department spokesman urged Iran to "take positive action" that day and said it "hopes that Iran will come to Vienna for quick and sincere negotiations."
Liu Lanyu believes that since Iran's measures to resume compliance with the treaty, such as stopping uranium enrichment activities and resuming the comprehensive supervision of nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, are more likely to show results, and the United States may face complicated situations in the process of lifting sanctions and unfrozen funds, Iran hopes that the United States will take the first step. However, the US government's handling of the Afghan issue has been subjected to domestic and foreign pressure, which makes it more difficult for the United States to make concessions on the Iranian nuclear issue and adds uncertainty to the prospects for negotiations.
Fan Hongda, a professor at the Institute of Middle East Studies at Shanghai University of Foreign Chinese, analyzed that for the Lehi government, which urgently needs to obtain domestic and foreign political recognition, especially domestic politics, there is no meaning in the talks without substantive gains, which is also the fundamental reason why Iran has repeatedly emphasized "results-oriented" talks, and the Lehi government's willingness to return to negotiations shows that it has expectations for negotiations.
Fan Hongda stressed that it was precisely because the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Iranian nuclear agreement that led to today's difficulties, and the US sanctions on Iran are increasingly not recognized by the international community, and whether the United States will change its position is the key to whether the Iranian nuclear negotiations can achieve a breakthrough.
In July 2015, Iran reached a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany. In May 2018, the US government unilaterally withdrew from the Iranian nuclear agreement, and then restarted and added a series of sanctions against Iran. Since May 2019, Iran has gradually suspended the implementation of some of the terms of the JCPOA, but promised that the measures taken were "reversible".
The talks between the parties to the Iranian nuclear agreement began in Vienna, the capital of Austria, in April this year to discuss the resumption of implementation by Iran and the United States, and have been held for six rounds so far. Due to the serious differences between Iran and the United States and the change of leadership of the Iranian government, after the end of the sixth round of talks, a new round of talks was delayed.