The European Union coordinator responsible for overseeing the Iranian nuclear talks, Enrique Mora, is expected overnight from Saturday to Sunday in Tehran, the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell having spoken of a "case days' before the conclusion of an agreement.
Enrique Mora is due to meet Iranian chief negotiator Ali Baghéri, the official Iranian news agency Irna reported.
To discover
LIVE - War in Ukraine: Zelensky accuses Russia of pushing nuclear arms race
Read alsoIranian nuclear: Macron asks Iran to “seize” the opportunity to preserve the Vienna agreement
Iran has been engaged for several months in talks in Vienna with China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom and Germany to revive the 2015 agreement supposed to prevent Tehran from acquiring the atomic bomb, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions that are suffocating the Iranian economy.
“We have to conclude this negotiation.
The stakes are high,”
tweeted Enrique Mora, indicating that he was making efforts
“to bridge the remaining gaps
” between the positions of the stakeholders.
The agreement fell apart after Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018, decided by then President Donald Trump, reinstating sanctions against Iran, which in response gradually freed itself from the limits imposed on its nuclear program.
Once in the White House, Democrat Joe Biden wanted to return to the agreement, but indirect negotiations remain difficult.
"Affair of Days"
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell estimated on Saturday that the conclusion of an agreement was a "matter of days".
"We are very close to it, but there are still some outstanding questions
," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar.
The United States was a little less optimistic at the start of the week.
“There has been significant progress in recent weeks, but I want to make it clear that an agreement is neither imminent nor certain
,” said the spokesman of the American diplomacy, Ned Price, as if to temper the optimism. which had prevailed since the beginning of March among the negotiators.
Iran confirmed on Saturday that the removal of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, from the American list of "terrorist organizations", was among the points still under discussion.
"
The subject of the Revolutionary Guards is definitely part of our negotiations
," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in an interview with state television.
“We exchanged messages with the Americans about this. So this is one of the topics that is still on the table
,” he added.
This is the first official confirmation that the removal of the Guardians from the US blacklist is among the topics still under discussion.
Amir-Abdollahian said he was on the table even though senior Guardians had asked that he not be a 'barrier' if the deal secured Iran's 'national interests' .
-
