EU’s foreign policy chief wrote :“What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals. If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal.”

 

The EU mediating between the United States and Iran in order to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, formally formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),  has submitted to Tehran the ‘’final text’’ of an agreement.

EU-mediated indirect talks between the US and Iran resumed in Vienna last week.

On Twitter, EU’s foreign policy chief wrote :“What can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now in a final text. However, behind every technical issue and every paragraph lies a political decision that needs to be taken in the capitals. If these answers are positive, then we can sign this deal.”

“This marks the end of almost a year andahalf of negotiations. Time for final decisions now,” an EU official, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a telephone conversation with Borrell on Monday that “any final agreement should meet the rights and interests of the Iranian nation and guarantee sustainable and effective removal of sanctions”.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that the US “stand ready to quickly conclude a deal on the basis of the EU’s proposals.”

“For our part, our position is clear: we stand ready to quickly conclude a deal on the basis of the EU’s proposals. I will not speculate on Iran’s position. They repeatedly say they are prepared for a return to mutual implementation of the JCPOA. As the EU Coordinator has made clear, this text is the only possibility basis on which to do so,” he added.

“Let’s see if their actions match their words,” the spokesperson added.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the nuclear deal accord in 2018 and a year later, Iran started systematically breaching the terms of the agreement. It has since massively expanded its nuclear program. The Biden administration has set reviving the accord as one of its main foreign policy.

Among the major issues in the latest  deal is the scope of probes by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at several Iranian nuclear sites. Iran wants those probes to end in order for the agreement to be restored.

The IAEA director said last week that Iran’s nuclear program was advancing rapidly and that “good words” from Tehran were insufficient to satisfy inspectors.

Iran had also wanted to have its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) removed from the US terror list but Washington has so far refused