- Negotiations stalled after Russia demanded trade guarantees
- Sanctions against Ukraine should not affect its business in Iran
- Moscow’s contribution to constructive negotiations so far: Iran
- But Tehran seeks clarification of Lavrov’s demands
VIENNA, March 7 – France on Monday warned Russia not to resort to blackmail over attempts to revive a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, after Moscow demanded U.S. assurances that the sanctions it faced because of Ukraine will not harm its trade with Tehran. .
Russia raised a potential stumbling block on Saturday, just as months of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in Vienna to renew the 2015 pact seemed to be leading to an agreement.
In Tehran, a foreign ministry spokesman said Iran was awaiting an explanation of the Russian demand through “diplomatic channels,” adding, however, that the talks should not be affected by the sanctions imposed on Moscow, whose contribution to the talks so far has been constructive. More
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On Saturday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Russia’s actions were not constructive.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia wants written assurances from the United States that Moscow’s trade, investment and military-technical cooperation with Iran will not be hindered by Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country.
A spokesman for the French president told reporters late on Sunday that diplomats tend to deal with each issue on its merits rather than mixing them up.
“Because otherwise it’s really just blackmail, not diplomacy,” he told reporters.
Western officials say the division of the Iranian nuclear dossier was made possible by a common interest in preventing a non-proliferation crisis.
They are trying to find out if what Russia is demanding only applies to its obligations under the agreement with Iran. They say it can be dealt with, but anything beyond that will be problematic.
A 2015 agreement between Iran and the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China eased sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment, making it difficult for Tehran to develop materials for nuclear weapons.
It disbanded after President Donald Trump left the United States in 2018.
FITTING
A spokesman for the French president urged Russia to assess what is at stake in Vienna, “that is, bringing Iran back into compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA,” referring to the 2015 agreement, officially titled the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”
The European diplomat added: “The Russians are really trying to do it, and the Iranians are not happy, although of course they don’t say too much in public. We’re trying to find a way out.”
Iran’s top security official, Ali Shamkhani, said on Monday that negotiators are evaluating the new components that have affected the Vienna talks and that Iran will adapt initiatives to speed up an agreement.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken tried to dispel talk of obstacles by saying that the sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine had nothing to do with the nuclear deal.
Diplomats said that Washington and Tehran are also still trying to resolve other outstanding issues that are also holding back an agreement.
The European negotiators have temporarily left the talks because they believe they have gone as far as they can and now the two main negotiators must reach an agreement, three diplomats said.
Russia’s concern about the impact of Western sanctions on its relations with Iran stems from the desire of senior Iranian officials for closer ties with Russia following the election last year of hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Iran’s top leadership, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, is calling for closer ties with Russia because of its deep mistrust of the United States.
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Edited by Tom Hoag, Michael Georgie and John Stonestreet
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