After a five-month break, Iranian nuclear negotiators met again in Vienna on Monday.
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| The first day of the Iran nuclear talks, which began under the chairmanship of Enrique Mora, deputy secretary-general of the EU diplomatic service, in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 29, 2021. EU VIENNA DELEGATION/HANDOUT / ANADOLU AGENCY / AFP |
Back to the discussion table. After a five-month break, Iranian nuclear negotiators met again on Monday, November 29 in Vienna, Austria. "The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran is in Vienna with the firm determination to reach an agreement," said to the press the spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Said Khatibzadeh. The meeting began at 3 p.m. French time, at the same place where the 2015 international agreement was reached.
Last June, the various parties had left on a positive note, but the arrival in power in Iran of the ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raissi had changed the situation. For months, the new leadership ignored the call from the West to return to the table, while continuing to ramp up the nuclear program. Tehran now insists on "lifting all sanctions in a guaranteed and verifiable manner. The European Union, for its part, considered it "crucial to pick up where we left off and work to get the agreement back on track as soon as possible.
The return of the United States in the 2015 agreement hoped for
Facing an Iranian delegation for this seventh round since the beginning of the talks in April, took place the diplomats of the other states involved (Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China), while the United States of Joe Biden participate indirectly. Before coming to Austria, the American envoy Rob Malley had judged that the recent Iranian actions were "not a good omen". He added: "If they are dragging their feet (...), then, of course, we would not be prepared to stand idly by.
From Paris, Emmanuel Macron again called on Iran to engage "constructively" in these negotiations. The objective "was to see Iran return to full compliance with all its commitments under the JCPOA and that the United States return to the agreement," said the Elysee, using the English acronym of the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 and which the United States left in 2018.