This is a first since March. All the Iranian nuclear negotiators met this Thursday, August 4 in Vienna, Austria. After months of blocking, they will try to revive the moribund agreement of 2015 which aims to prevent Iran from acquiring atomic weapons.
Russian, Chinese and Iranian negotiators took turns at the Cobourg Palace in Vienna on Thursday. They were received by the coordinator of the European Union, Enrique Mora, who oversees the talks.
After the failure of the last talks in Qatar at the end of June, between Iranians and Americans, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell submitted a draft compromise on July 26 and called on the parties to avoid a ” dangerous crisis “. Both Tehran and Washington have an interest in keeping the diplomatic channel alive for lack of better options, experts note.
Iran would also have put ideas on the table, while the United States, which participates in these new talks in Vienna indirectly, remains cautious about their outcome. ” Our expectations are measured but the United States (…) is ready in good faith to try to find an agreement “, he wrote on Twitter the emissary of Washington. Still, the thread of discussions resumed after 5 months of blockage.
The objective is to relaunch the 2015 agreement supposed to prevent Iran from acquiring atomic weapons. After the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the agreement in 2018, and the reinstatement of sanctions against Tehran, the Iranians freed themselves from their obligations, they resumed their nuclear activities with renewed vigor. It is this dangerous escalation that the negotiators want to stop at all costs.