Talks on Iran’s nuclear program broke down Friday without agreement, jeopardizing talks that were moving towards an agreement until Russia turned them around with demands for easing Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
European Union talks coordinator Josep Borrell said on Friday he would talk to the US, Iran and other teams “to overcome the current situation and close the agreement.” Other diplomats said talks could resume soon.
“Pause needed in #ViennaTalks due to external factors,” Mr. Borrell tweeted. “The final text is almost ready and is on the table.”
After weeks of round-the-clock talks in Vienna between the US, Iran, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, the pause greatly raises the possibility that efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal could fail. The US pulled out of the deal in 2018, and since then Iran has significantly expanded its nuclear activities in response to renewed US sanctions.
Western diplomats warn that while the US and Iran have settled most of their differences, Russian demands and rising tensions over Ukraine could derail talks.
The talks centered on steps the US and Iran would take to get back into compliance with the nuclear deal that lifted most international sanctions on Iran in exchange for tight but temporary restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear work. Iran has so far refused to negotiate directly with the American team and has instead used other actors, including Russia, as intermediaries.
US and European officials have been warning for weeks that nuclear talks cannot be extended because of progress in Iran’s nuclear work. Last week, European diplomats pushed for a speedy end to talks between Iran and the US, fearing that tensions over Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russia would seep into the talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week that the guarantees should ensure that, should the agreement be restored, Western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine “will in no way violate our right to free and full trade, economic, investment and military technical cooperation. with Iran.
Although Iran says it is not trying to build nuclear weapons, a look at its key facilities suggests it could develop the technology to produce them. The WSJ destroys Tehran’s capabilities when it reaches new milestones in uranium enrichment and limits access to inspectors. Photo illustration: George Downes
US and European officials dismissed Russia’s demands for sanctions guarantees, saying the issue of Ukraine-related sanctions was irrelevant to the Iran nuclear deal.
A diplomat from one of the European countries negotiating the agreement said that “we cannot and will not negotiate on a broad [sanctions] an exception that is a request from Russia and has nothing to do with the “nuclear deal”.
The diplomat said he hoped Iran and China could use bilateral channels to persuade Moscow to back off, but warned that if Moscow remained an obstacle to the deal, “we will have to consider other options” to restart the nuclear deal without Russia.
A deal with Iran is likely to help bring down oil prices, which have risen to nearly $140 a barrel and remain above $100 a barrel, a historically high level. High oil and gas prices have prevented Western powers from using one of their most powerful financial tools against Russia: sanctions against its huge energy industry.
Speaking after the pause in talks was announced, Russia’s chief negotiator Mikhail Ulyanov told reporters that he did not know how long the break in talks would last and that he did not believe in “some kind of dead end.”
“The only thing I want to tell you is… it’s not just up to Russia to make a deal,” he said.
Other negotiators highlighted the progress made in the 11.5 months of negotiations and the opportunity to return to Vienna to finalize the deal. China’s chief negotiator said the teams could return in two days.
Iranian officials blamed Washington for the failure to make a deal, not Russia, which was sympathetic to Iran’s negotiating position. But on Friday, Said Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, appeared to echo concerns that Russia was now blocking the way.
“No external factor will affect our joint will to conclude a collective agreement,” he said.
People close to the talks say there are still some final disagreements between Tehran and Washington, including technical issues regarding exactly how US sanctions on Iran are lifted and possibly the sequencing of steps on either side to restart the deal. .
However, Western diplomats say that Tehran and Washington know the form of the final deal and that it is only Russia’s position that prevents the final signing.
An EU spokesman said Russia had promised to return in a few days with specific requests for sanctions relief. Until then, the official said, “We cannot complete negotiations.
“When you’re this close to the finish line and you’re stopped by something external, not entirely related to the negotiations, yes, that feeling of frustration,” the official said.
Russia’s demands create a number of problems, in particular for Washington.
Negotiations over Russia’s demands will require time that Western diplomats say the talks don’t have because of Iran’s push for nuclear work.
It is also unclear who will be involved in such negotiations at a time of extreme tension between Moscow and Washington. Chief US negotiator Rob Malley is the Biden administration’s special envoy to Iran, but Western officials say Russia’s demands go beyond nuclear talks.
Initially, Russia insisted on guarantees that its tasks under the nuclear deal would be protected from sanctions. These include a uranium exchange with Iran, the conversion of the Iranian underground nuclear facility at Fordow into a research facility, and the supply of fuel for some Iranian reactors.
Moscow has expanded its demands in recent days as tensions around Ukraine have soared and the US, UK and Europe have slapped heavy new sanctions on Russia.
Write to Laurens Norman: [email protected]
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