The parties to the Comprehensive Agreement on Iran’s nuclear issue have held the seventh round of talks in Vienna, the Austrian capital, for several days. An Iraqi person close to the Iranian delegation said on the 12th local time that the demands made by the participating European countries were excessive, resulting in slow progress in the talks.
The source told Iran’s Tasnim News Agency: “The excessive demands of three European countries, or one or two of them, have slowed down the negotiation process.”
He also said that during the current round of talks, the attitude of one or two European countries has always been “unconstructive”, “it is still the case today”, and “the insistence of the European side on this unconstructive position has led to differences among the five participating countries.”
The three European countries participating in the Vienna talks are Britain, France and Germany.
British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Trass shouted harshly to Iran at the meeting of the Group of Seven when hosting a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Liverpool, England on the 12th: “This is Iran’s last chance to negotiate at the table with a serious solution to the problem. The solution must be to agree to (fulfil) the terms of the Iran nuclear agreement. This is their last chance (Iran), and they must do so.
German new foreign minister Anna Lena Belberg attacked Iran at the meeting. She said that the latest demands made by Iran in this round of talks have delayed the negotiation process and caused Iran to “lost a lot of trust”.
Iran signed a Iran nuclear agreement with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany in 2015. According to the agreement, Iran restricts its nuclear activities, and the United Nations, the United States and the European Union lift economic sanctions against Iran.
In May 2018, the U.S. government unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, and then restarted and increased sanctions against Iran. Since May 2019, Iran has gradually suspended the implementation of some provisions of the Iran nuclear agreement, but promised that the relevant measures are “reversible”.
After the Biden administration of the United States came to power earlier this year, Iran and the United States showed their willingness to negotiate. Iran stressed that if the United States “illegally” withdraws from the Iran nuclear agreement, it is up to the United States to resume the implementation of the agreement and lift the sanctions against Iran first.
In order to promote the resumption of the implementation of the agreement between the United States and Iran, the relevant parties have held six rounds of talks in Vienna since April this year. Iran refused to talk to the United States on the grounds that it had withdrawn from the agreement. The U.S. delegation negotiated indirectly with Iran by means of circumsing in Vienna. The seventh round of talks began on November 29, adjourned on the 3rd of this month, and resumed on the 9th.
