In an effort to revive the nuclear deal with Iran, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has submitted a compromise draft to the parties involved in the negotiations. It is “not a perfect agreement,” but “the best possible agreement that I, as a mediator, think can be reached in the negotiations,” Borrell said in a guest article published in the Financial Times on Tuesday.
He urged those involved to adopt the draft to avoid a dangerous crisis. The proposed compromise “mentions all the essential elements and includes compromises that have been hard worked by all sides,” it said.
He is “dealing in detail” with the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Iran and the measures Iran must take in return. In the event of rejection, “we risk a dangerous nuclear crisis,” Borrell warned.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri, tweeted on Tuesday: “The coordinator has expressed his own ideas for the conclusion of the negotiations. We too have our own ideas, both in terms of content and form.”
On June 25 in Tehran, Borrell and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian agreed that negotiations, which had been deadlocked since mid-March, should be resumed soon.
The aim of the Vienna talks is to persuade Washington to return to the 2015 nuclear deal. It envisages Iran limiting its nuclear activities in exchange for a relaxation of international sanctions. The agreement is intended to guarantee that Iran will only use nuclear power for civilian purposes and not, as feared by the West, to build nuclear weapons.
