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Tehran Prepares Response to EU Proposal on JCPOA Revival 

Tehran Prepares Response to EU Proposal on JCPOA Revival 
Tehran Prepares Response to EU Proposal on JCPOA Revival 

Iran was set to deliver its final wrap-up about the latest text on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal to the European Union coordinator by midnight on Monday, according to its top diplomat. 
“If the United States reacts with realism and shows flexibility, a deal will be reached, otherwise, we will have to negotiate more,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at a meeting with journalists in Tehran on Monday, ISNA reported. 
He added that Iran has an intention to conclude an agreement if its interests and red lines are respected. 
“We are at a point which we could call the beginning of the conclusion of an agreement,” he said, noting that how long this stage would take depends on the US.
The 2015 deal promised sanctions relief to Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activity, but the US pulled out four years ago and reimposed sweeping sanctions that prompted Tehran to scale down its commitments. 
Negotiations have been underway in Vienna, Austria, for more than a year to work out how both sides can resume compliance with the pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
After a months-long stalemate since March, the EU coordinator finally put forward a new initiative which opened the space for the resumption of talks.  
Delegations returned to their capitals last Monday to review what the EU called its “final text”. 
Iran does not recognize the text as the last possible effort to restore the nuclear deal. 
The Foreign Ministry spokesman said a text is only final when Iran’s interests and legitimate demands are met. 
“It is final when our red lines are respected and the economic benefits arising from the JCPOA for Iran are ensured completely,” Nasser Kanaani said in a regular press briefing on Monday. 

 

 

Three Issues 

Amir-Abdollahian said Iran and the US are currently exchanging messages specifically on three issues.  
“If our views on these subjects, which are logical, are respected, we are ready to enter the stage of signing an agreement and hold the finalization meeting of foreign ministers in Vienna and enter other subsequent stages,” he said. 
He added that the US has shown relative flexibility orally on two issues, which he did not specify, but they need to be written down in a text. 
The third issue involves guarantees of lasting adherence to the deal, about which Washington needs to be flexible and realistic, according to the minister. 
“If we see such flexibility, we can reach a deal in the coming days … if they don’t show flexibility, that would not be the end of the world,” he said. 
“They speak of a plan B, we have our own plan B.” 
Iran has demanded a complete removal of sanctions imposed following the US exit from the JCPOA, guarantees that no future US government would renege on the deal again, and closure of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s investigation into uranium material that has been allegedly found on undeclared old sites. 
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran has been flexible in areas that were possible and it is now the US turn. 
The Islamic Republic cannot cross its red lines and sign an agreement that fails to be materialized on the ground a while afterwards.  
“We seek an agreement whose effects people can see in their lives.” 
The EU’s draft text offers compromises in favor of Iran, including on sanctions removal and safeguards issue. 
US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley, however, has recently said Washington would not lower its standards about sanctions that it has refused to lift, and would not press the IAEA to close Iran’s case before Tehran provides credible answers about the particles either. 
 

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