JCPOA ‘best possible’ framework: EU negotiator
Russia calls for Western ‘political will’ to revive Iran deal
The 2015 nuclear deal is the “best possible” option to resolve issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear work, the a senior European Union official said Friday amid renewed diplomatic efforts to bring back the tattered accord to life.
“For the EU, JCPOA is the best possible, if not the only, framework to address the legitimate non-proliferation concerns of the international community on the Iranian nuclear program,” EU mediator Enrique Mora tweeted, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Mora’s tweet came two days after holding what he called “intense talks” with Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani in Qatar’s capital Doha on “difficult” issues. Bagheri Kani called his talks with Mora in Doha “serious and constructive”.
Nabila Massrali, an EU spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said on Friday the Doha meeting was part of efforts for “keeping diplomatic channels open” with Iran.
Iran and other parties to the JCPOA – France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia – abandoned months of marathon talks to revitalize the deal in September without reaching an agreement.
Iran wants the United States to lift all the sanctions it re-imposed and reinforced after walking out of the deal in 2018 and give firm assurances that it would not ditch the accord again.
The West demands that Iran scale back its nuclear activities, which the latter increased in retaliation for the U.S. withdrawal, to the limits set by the JCPOA.
On Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov urged the U.S. to end its “gross violation” of the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2231, which was passed to endorse the JCPOA.
Ryabkov added that the troubled deal is “fully prepared” to be restored and the U.S. and European parties “just need to show political will” to resuscitate the JCPOA.