Russia's Demand For US Guarantees Could Hit Nuclear Talks, Iranian Official Says

VIENNA, March 5 – Russia’s demand for written U.S. guarantees that sanctions on Moscow won’t harm Russia’s cooperation with Iran is “unconstructive” for talks between Tehran and world powers to restart the 2015 nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official said. Saturday.

The Russian statement, which could derail months of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in Vienna, came shortly after Tehran said it had agreed a roadmap with a UN nuclear monitor to address outstanding issues that could help secure a nuclear pact.

“Russia put this demand on the table (at the talks in Vienna) two days ago. There is an understanding that by changing its position at the negotiations in Vienna, Russia wants to secure its interests elsewhere. talks,” an Iranian official in Tehran told Reuters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine were a stumbling block to the Iran nuclear deal, warning that Russia’s national interests must be taken into account. More

Lavrov said Russia wanted written assurances from the US that the sanctions would in no way interfere with Russian trade, investment and military-technical cooperation with Iran.

New US sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine should not affect a potential revival of the nuclear deal with Iran, the US State Department said.

“The new Russia-related sanctions are unrelated to the JCPOA and should not have any impact on its potential implementation,” a State Department spokesman said, referring to the 2015 agreement by its official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“We continue to engage with Russia on the return to full implementation of the JCPOA. Russia shares a common interest that Iran never obtain a nuclear weapon.”

Asked if Russia’s demand would hurt 11 months of talks between Tehran and world powers, including Russia, Ali Vaez, director of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, said: “Not yet. But it is impossible to separate the two crises for long. “

“The United States may refuse to work related to the transfer of excess fissile material to Russia. But this is a sign that the mixing of the two issues has begun,” Vaez said.

Two diplomats, one of whom was not directly involved in the talks, said China also demanded written assurances that its companies doing business in Iran would not be affected by US sanctions.

An Iranian flag flies in front of the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria on July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

Such requirements could complicate efforts to secure a nuclear deal at a time when an agreement seemed likely. All parties involved in the Vienna talks said on Friday they were close to reaching an agreement.

A 2015 agreement between Tehran and the major powers eased sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment, making it difficult for Tehran to develop materials for nuclear weapons. The agreement fell apart after President Donald Trump left the United States in 2018.

ANSWER SCHEDULE

Meanwhile, Iran and the UN’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority have said they intend to resolve a dispute over the origin of uranium particles found at old but undeclared sites by early June, aiming to clear a roadblock to a 2015 deal renewal.

The move was announced jointly by Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during a visit to Tehran by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, who arrived on Friday to discuss one of the latest thorny issues blocking the restart of the pact.

Grossi later said it was hard to imagine any deal to restart the Iran nuclear deal would go ahead if the IAEA’s efforts to resolve outstanding issues in Iran by June failed.

“My impression is that it would be hard to imagine that you can have a relationship of cooperation, as if nothing happened, if the clarification of very important security measures failed,” Grossi said at a press conference in Vienna.

According to the schedule in the statement, Iran will provide “written explanations, including relevant supporting documents” on the unanswered IAEA questions on the three sites by March 20, prior to other exchanges, after which Grossi will “endeavour to communicate its findings by June 2022 (IAEA)”. Board of Governors, which begins on June 6.

The main stumbling block in the negotiations is that Tehran wants the issue of uranium particles closed. Western powers say it is a separate issue in a deal to which the IAEA is not a party, several officials told Reuters.

Grossi, who also held talks with Iran’s foreign minister before returning to Vienna on Saturday, said “there are still issues that Iran needs to resolve.” The IAEA has been trying to get answers from Iran about how traces of uranium got there, a topic often referred to as “unresolved safeguards issues.”

Grossi’s trip raised hope that an agreement with the IAEA would potentially clear the way for a revival of the nuclear pact. By pulling the United States out, Trump has also re-imposed far-reaching sanctions on Iran.

Since 2019, Tehran has violated the agreement’s nuclear limits and gone far beyond it, rebuilding stocks of enriched uranium, refining it to a higher purity, and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up production. Iran denies ever trying to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London, John Irish in Paris and Arshad Mohammed in Saint Paul: Written by Parisa Hafezi and Michael Georgie, edited by Catherine Evans, Louise Havens, Frances Kerry, William McLean.

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