DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Talks to revive Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers ended Monday in Vienna as the parties reached a final text and key negotiators were ready to consult with their capitals, diplomats said.
After 16 months of tortuous oblique negotiations to restore the deal, European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell warned that there is no more room for negotiations on the draft that is lately on the table.
The final resolution on whether the maximum non-proliferation pact of the last quarter-century can be restored rests with the governments of Iran and the United States, he said. The 2015 nuclear deal granted sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for strict restrictions on its atomic program.
“What can be negotiated has been negotiated and is now in a final text,” Borrell wrote on Twitter. “However, each and every technical aspect and each and every paragraph is a political resolution that you want to do in capital letters. “
The main demanding situations in the conclusion of the agreement are once again important. Over the weekend, European officials suggested that Iran abandon its “unrealistic demands” outside the scope of the original deal, adding an International Atomic Energy Agency investigation into undeclared nuclear curtains discovered in the country.
Iran’s leading negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani will soon return to Tehran for political consultations, Iran’s IRNA news firm reported. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the most sensible of the Iranian theocracy, who would have the last word in any agreement.
The United States, which abandoned the original nuclear deal 4 years ago under former President Donald Trump, described the draft submitted as “the only basis on which to succeed in a deal. “
“For our part, our position is clear: we are in a position to temporarily conclude an agreement on the basis of EU proposals,” the State Department said, indicating that the recovery of the agreement depends on Iran.
“They (Iran) continually say they are in a position to return to mutual implementation,” the spokesman added. “Let’s see if his movements fit his words. “
Iran, for its part, gave the impression of being on guard, generating skepticism about the chances of a breakthrough after a months-long standoff.
“Naturally, the cases require further study,” IRNA quoted an unnamed senior official from Iran’s Foreign Ministry as saying. “We will change our perspectives and additional points. “
But Western diplomats have warned that time is running out as Iran’s nuclear program moves forward under shrinking foreign scrutiny. They are also concerned that the U. S. midterm elections, which are approaching the close ones, will strengthen Republicans who oppose the deal.
It was unclear how long the political consultations on the draft text would last.
But, Borrell said, “if the answers are positive, then we can point to this agreement. “
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Associated Press editors Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed.